Optimax Laser Eye Clinics - Manchester

Updated 1 November 2019

Optimax Laser Eye Clinics Manchester is operated by Optimax Clinics Ltd. The clinic opened in 1994. It is a private clinic in Manchester city centre. The clinic primarily receives patients from the North West. It also accepts patient referrals from outside this area.

The clinic has had a registered manager in post since May 2019. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations.

This service was last inspected in August 2017, we did not have a legal duty to rate refractive eye surgery services at that time. During this inspection the provider was issued with two Requirement Notices which detailed legal requirements which were not being met in line with the requirements of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations. During this inspection we saw that the provider had taken action to rectify the issues and the requirements were now being met.

Updated 1 November 2019

Optimax Laser Eye Clinics Manchester is operated by Optimax Clinics Ltd. Facilities at the Manchester clinic include a laser treatment room, a recovery room, four consultation rooms and a topography room.

The service provides refractive (laser) eye surgery and pre and post-operative care for patients over the age of 18, who self-refer and pay for their own treatment.

We inspected this service using our comprehensive inspection methodology. We carried out an unannounced visit to the clinic on 31 July 2019.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we ask the same five questions of all services: are they safe, effective, caring, responsive to people's needs, and well-led? Where we have a legal duty to do so we rate services’ performance against each key question as outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate.

Throughout the inspection, we took account of what people told us and how the provider understood and complied with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

The main service provided by this clinic is refractive eye surgery.

Services we rate

We had not previously rated this service. We rated it as Good overall.

We found good practice in relation to refractive eye surgery:

• The service had enough staff with the right qualifications, skills, training and experience to keep people safe from avoidable harm and to provide the right care and treatment. The service had suitable premises and equipment and looked after them well.

• Patient outcomes were robustly measured, and the service monitored and implemented changes in best practice guidance and standards swiftly. Pain relief was assessed appropriately, and managers made sure staff were competent.

• Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and helped them understand their treatment options and choices.

• Patients could access the service when they wanted to, and services were planned to meet the needs of the individual patients. The service made it simple for patients and their relatives to give feedback or raise concerns.

• Managers promoted a positive culture that supported and valued staff. Staff were clear on their roles and responsibilities. Leaders operated effective governance processes. Leaders and teams used systems to manage performance effectively. They identified and escalated relevant risks and issues and identified actions to reduce their impact.

Ann Ford

Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (North)

Updated 1 November 2019

Optimax Laser Eye Clinics Manchester is operated by Optimax Clinics Ltd which is a nationwide provider. Optimax Clinics Ltd operate 20 clinics across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The provider offers a range of specialist vision correction procedures and treatment across its clinics. Optimax Laser Eye Clinics Manchester provides refractive eye surgery as a single specialty service.