The Capsule Clinic

Updated 1 June 2023

The Capsule Clinic is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to provide the regulated activities diagnostic and screening procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury from the following address:

Hope Cottage, 5 Macclesfield Road, Prestbury, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK10 4BW

We visited this location as part of the inspection. The registered provider is Health Screening Solutions Limited.

The service is provided by a consultant gastroenterologist and a specialist nurse practitioner supported by a practice manager. The Capsule Clinic offers patients a range of capsule endoscopy services. Treatments are provided for adults aged 18 and over. The service is open 7 days per week with appointments available on a pre-bookable only basis. Patients can book over the telephone or by requesting a consultation online.

The service website can be accessed at: https://thecapsuleclinic.com/

How we inspected this service

Our inspection included:

• Conducting staff interviews

• Reviewing records

• Requesting evidence from the provider.

• A site visit

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 1 June 2023

This service is rated as Good overall.

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 The Capsule Clinic as part of our inspection programme. The service has not been previously inspected.

The Capsule Clinic is registered with CQC to provide diagnostic and screening procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury. At the time of the inspection the service provided four different types of capsule endoscopy.

The service is led by a consultant gastroenterologist who 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.

Our key findings were:

• The service provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• People received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• Patients were treated with respect and staff were kind, caring and involved them in decisions about their care.
• Services were tailored to meet the needs of individual patients and were accessible.
• The service demonstrated a culture which focused on the needs of patients and commitment to driving improvement.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Review the mandatory training available to staff and keep accurate records of activity undertaken.
• Complete and document staff annual appraisals.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services