Archived: Sthetix Ltd

Updated 22 October 2018

Sthetix Ltd is a cosmetic clinic located at 20 Knight Street, Liverpool, L1 9DS. Sthetix Ltd is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to provide:

Diagnostic and screening services

Surgical procedures

Treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

The service is a private clinic for a range of minor surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures. The clinic is also used for consultations for major surgical procedures but these procedures are carried out at a local hospital.

The service is open Mondays and Fridays 9am-5pm; and Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 9am-8pm. Saturday appointments were sometimes available by arrangement.

Arrangements were in place for patients who required advice outside of the opening hours.

Why we carried out this inspection

We carried out a comprehensive inspection of this service under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. The inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and to look at the overall quality of the service.

How we carried out this inspection

Our inspection team was led by a CQC Lead Inspector and a GP Specialist Advisor.

We inspected this service on 21 September 2018. During our visit we:

• Spoke with five members of staff.

• Reviewed documents and policies.
• Looked at the computer system for record keeping and staff information.
• Reviewed patient survey results information, CQC comment cards and spoke with one patient.
• Looked at the arrangements for managing medicines and medical emergencies.
• Looked at the suitability of the premises.

The service provided background information which was reviewed prior to the inspection. We did not receive any information of concern from other organisations.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:

• Is it safe?
• Is it effective?
• Is it caring?
• Is it responsive to people’s needs?
• Is it well-led?

These questions therefore formed the framework for the areas we looked at during the inspection.

Updated 22 October 2018

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 21 September 2018 to ask the service the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

We found that this service was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services effective?

We found that this service was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services caring?

We found that this service was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

We found that this service was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services well-led?

We found that this service was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

The service provides a range of minor surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures. The clinic is also used for consultations for major surgical procedures but these procedures are carried out at a local hospital. Post-operative care is also carried out at the clinic. The service had seen approximately 245 patients for consultation appointments between January to June 2018.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides.

At Sthetix Ltd, the aesthetic cosmetic treatments that are also provided are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore, we were only able to inspect the consultations and surgical procedures but not the aesthetic cosmetic services.

The lead clinician is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

As part of our inspection we asked for Care Quality Commission comment cards to be completed by patients prior to our inspection visit. We received 24 comment cards, all of which were positive about the standard of care received.

Our key findings were:

• Systems were in place to protect people from avoidable harm and abuse. When incidents occurred, lessons were learned.
• There were effective arrangements in place for the management of medicines.
• The service had arrangements in place to respond to medical emergencies.
• Staff were aware of current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills and knowledge to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Patient survey information and Care Quality Commission (CQC) comment cards reviewed indicated that patients were very satisfied with the service they received. Patients commented that staff were knowledgeable and professional; and that they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• The provider proactively gained and used patient feedback. Information about services and how to complain was available.
• The provider was aware of the duty of candour.
• There was a clear leadership and governance structure.
• There were a range of continuous improvements to the service using new technology.