The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Elements Medical inadequate and placed the service in special measures to protect people, following an inspection carried out in October.
Elements Medical, run by Elements Medical Ltd, is an independent clinic which offers medical services and weight management services online, under the name The Virtual Slimming Clinic, as well as some non-regulated aesthetic services.
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about medicines management at the service.
CQC found seven breaches of regulations relating to dignity and respect, safe care and treatment, safeguarding people from abuse and improper treatment, staffing, staff being suitably employed, need for consent and good governance.
As well as the service’s overall rating going down from good to inadequate, so have the ratings for being safe and well-led. Its rating for being effective has dropped from requires improvement to inadequate. On this occasion, CQC did not inspect how caring or responsive the service was, as it focused on the areas of concern, therefore, both remain rated as good from the previous inspection.
The service has also been placed in special measures, which means it will be kept under close review by CQC to keep people safe and it will continue to monitor to check sufficient improvements are being made. If there aren’t rapid and widespread improvements, CQC won’t hesitate to use its regulatory powers further.
Alan Stephenson, CQC deputy director of operations in the north, said:
“When we inspected Elements Medical, we had serious concerns about the safety of the service and how it was being managed, to ensure people were getting the service and treatment they deserve. We identified widespread shortfalls including people’s understanding of procedures and their consent to them, and how the service kept people safe from abuse.
“Staff lacked basic knowledge of safeguarding procedures, including how to report concerns, and the service secretly filmed people during treatment without consent.
“We identified serious fire safety risks - the service stored all fire extinguishers in an inaccessible top floor room, failed to provide safe escape routes, and hadn't serviced the fire alarm since 2021. This put people at risk if there was a fire.
“We also had concerns about how medicines were managed as some of the medicines staff prescribed were unlicensed and aren’t currently recommended for people. Staff told us some medicine had been imported from Turkey, however the service didn’t have a licence to import medicines from this country, and Turkey isn’t an approved country for supplying medicines for use in England.
"We have told Elements Medical where we expect to see rapid and widespread improvements and will continue to monitor them closely to keep people safe while this happens. We will return to check on their progress and won’t hesitate to take further action if people are not receiving the care they have a right to expect.”
Inspectors found:
- People were not always made aware of potential or given the option to make an informed decision about whether to use the service
- Leaders created a poor culture of safety and learning from events
- Leaders had not put systems in place to ensure staff were recruited safely or appropriately trained
- Staff did not have access to the information they needed to assess, plan, and deliver people’s care and treatment
- The service could not demonstrate a positive, compassionate, listening culture that promoted trust and understanding between them and people using the service
- Leaders and some staff did not act with openness, honesty, and transparency.
The report will be published on CQC’s website in the next few days.