clinicbe

Updated 8 July 2019

Clinicbe is a medical practice situated in Knightsbridge. The practice premises are in a building in a residential street. The practice premises are located on the street and lower ground

levels. The lower ground level is accessible via stairs only.

The practice offers medical services for chronic skin conditions and hair loss to adults and children from the age of 13. The practice is open between 10am and 6.30pm on Mondays to Fridays. The practice has an all-female staff team of a clinical practitioner, two technicians and two administrators.

How we inspected this service

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Clinicbe on 7 June 2019. Our inspection team was led by a CQC Lead Inspector. The other member of the inspection team was a GP specialist advisor. Before visiting, we reviewed the information we hold about the service.

During our visit we:

• Spoke with staff which included the GP, technicians and administrative staff.

• Reviewed a sample of the personal care or treatment records of patients.

• Reviewed comment cards where patients shared their views and experiences of the service.

• Reviewed service policies, procedures and other relevant documentation.

• Inspected the premises and equipment in use.

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 8 July 2019

This service is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection 12 December 2017. The service was not rated at that time.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Clinicbe as part of our inspection programme.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 for Diagnostic and Screening procedures and Treatment of Disease, Disorder or Injury. Clinicbe provides doctor-led private consultations, physical examinations, and prescribes medicines for the management of chronic diseases such as acne, rosacea (a long-term skin condition that typically affects the face), and hair loss. At Clinicbe, the aesthetic cosmetic treatments that are also provided are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore, we were only able to inspect the treatment for chronic diseases but not the aesthetic cosmetic services, which included anti-ageing cosmetic treatments, skin fillers, chemical peels and skin rejuvenation.

The nominated individual 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.

During the inspection we obtained feedback through comment cards completed and reviewing feedback forms which the clinic gave out to patients. Patients commented that the staff were caring, professional and friendly. They also commented on the cleanliness of the clinic.

Our key findings were:

• The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Statement of Purpose needs to be updated as the practice is not dealing with gastro-intestinal problems any longer.
• Verbal complaints feedback should be documented so that trends can be identified.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGPChief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care