We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 10 October 2017 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 not providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations. The impact of our concerns, in terms of the safety of clinical care, was minor for patients using the service. Once the shortcomings have been put right the likelihood of them occurring in the future is low. We have told the provider to take action (see full details of this action in the Requirement Notice at the end of this report). We will be following up on our concerns to ensure they have been put right by the provider.
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.
Background
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.
Southern Slimming and Cosmetic Centre – Southampton is a private slimming clinic. The clinic consists of a reception area, four consulting rooms, kitchen area and toilet, which are located on the second floor of 42-43 Bedford Place in a commercial area of Southampton.
Staff include a clinic manager, four part-time doctors and a receptionist. The clinic is open three days during the week and alternate Saturday mornings. The clinic provides advice on weight loss and prescribed medicines to support weight reduction.
A doctor, who is supported by a receptionist and clinic manager, runs the clinic. The clinic manager is also 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.
During the inspection, we spoke to six patients who were attending the service. All were satisfied with their treatment.
Our key findings were:
- Staff told us that they felt supported to carry out their roles and responsibilities.
- The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service being provided
We identified regulations that were not being met and the provider must:
- Ensure patients are protected from abuse and improper treatment.
You can see full details of the regulations not being met at the end of this report.
There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should review:
- Only supplying unlicensed medicines against valid clinical needs of an individual patient where there is no suitable licensed medicine available
- Processes for monitoring long term clinical outcomes
- Appraisal processes for clinical staff
- Staff awareness of service policies e.g. chaperone and translation services.