The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • Independent doctor

Heathrow Medical Services

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Weekly House, 575-583 Bath Road, West Drayton, Middlesex, UB7 0EH (020) 8528 2633

Provided and run by:
Heathrow Medical Services LLP

All Inspections

6 July 2023

During a monthly review of our data

We carried out a review of the data available to us about Heathrow Medical Services on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.

This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.

If you have concerns about Heathrow Medical Services, you can give feedback on this service.

30 April 2021

During a routine inspection

This service is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection May 2019 – Requires improvement)

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 focused inspection at Heathrow Medical Services to follow up on previous breaches of regulations. During this inspection we inspected Safe, Effective and Well led.

CQC inspected the service in May 2019. We rated the service as requires improvement overall due to concerns with fridge temperature checks, recruitment checks and gaps in staff safeguarding training which were not always monitored appropriately.

We checked these areas as part of this focused inspection and found the concerns had been resolved.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. There are some general exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of service and these are set out in Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. At Heathrow Medical Services, services are provided to patients under arrangements made by their employer. These types of arrangements are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore, we were only able to inspect the services which are not arranged for patients by their employers.

Heathrow Medical Services is a private service providing travel health advice, travel and non-travel vaccines and travel medicines such as anti-malarial medicines to children and adults. In addition, the clinic holds a licence to administer yellow fever vaccines.

The clinical director 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.

Our key findings were:

  • There was an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
  • Risks to patients were always assessed and well managed, including those relating to medicines, safeguarding and recruitment checks.
  • The clinic had policies and procedures to governern activity.
  • The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • Continue to follow guidance on managing patients with severe infections including sepsis.

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

15 May 2019

During a routine inspection

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Requires improvement

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Requires improvement

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Heathrow Medical Services as part of our inspection programme.

Heathrow Medical Services is a private service providing travel health advice, travel and non-travel vaccines and travel medicines such as anti-malarial medicines to children and adults. In addition, the clinic holds a licence to administer yellow fever vaccines. The provider offers a range of occupational health services and specialist medicals for aircrew, airport and oil and gas employees but these services were out of the scope of this inspection.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. There are some general exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of service and these are set out in of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. At Heathrow Medical Services, services are provided to patients under arrangements made by their employer. These types of arrangements are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore, at Heathrow Medical Services, we were only able to inspect the services which are not arranged for patients by their employers.

The clinical director 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.

We received seven patient Care Quality Commission comment cards. All of the comment cards we received were positive about the service. Patients said they were satisfied with the standard of care received and said the staff was approachable, committed and caring.

Our key findings were:

Risks to patients were assessed and well managed in some areas, with the exception of those relating to fridge temperature checks, recruitment checks and gaps in staff safeguarding training which were not always monitored appropriately. However, fridge temperatures were recorded within the recommended range since March 2019.

  • There was a lack of good governance to ensure effective monitoring and assessment of the quality of the service.
  • The service had failed to identify that a clinical member of staff was not using appropriate internal travel health risk assessment tool and policies were not always followed appropriately.
  • There was an insufficient system in place for recording and acting on significant events as the service did not learn and make improvements in a timely manner when things went wrong.
  • There was evidence of quality improvement activity.
  • Care and treatment records were complete, legible and accurate, and securely kept.
  • Consent procedures were in place and these were in line with legal requirement.
  • Each patient received individualised travel advice, which was tailored to their specific needs and travel plans. The health advice included all travel vaccinations that were either required or recommended, and specific health information including additional health risks related to their destinations with advice on how to manage common illnesses.
  • Systems were in place to protect personal information about patients.
  • Patients were able to access care and treatment in a timely manner.
  • Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
  • The service had gathered feedback from the patients.
  • Information about services and how to complain was available.
  • The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.
  • There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management.

The areas where the provider must make improvements as they are in breach of regulations are:

  • Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.
  • Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.

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

6 September 2018

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 6 September 2018 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 providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

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.

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.

Heathrow Medical Services is a private clinic providing travel health advice, travel and non-travel vaccines and travel medicines such as anti-malarial medicines to children and adults. In addition, the clinic holds a licence to administer yellow fever vaccines. The service is one of the MASTA’s approved travel clinic centre.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. Therefore, we were only able to inspect the services provided by the travel clinic nurse which included vaccination and travel clinic services. The provider offered a range of occupational health services and specialist medicals for aircrew, airport and oil and gas employees but these services were out of the scope of this inspection.

The clinical director 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.

We received seven patient Care Quality Commission comment cards. All of the comment cards we received were positive about the service. Patients said they were satisfied with the standard of care received and said the staff was approachable, committed and caring.

Our key findings were:

  • Each patient received an individualised travel health brief which was tailored to their specific needs and travel plans. The health brief outlined a risk assessment; all travel vaccinations that were either required or recommended, and specific health information including additional health risks related to their destinations with advice on how to manage common illnesses.
  • Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses.
  • There were arrangements in place to protect children and vulnerable adults from abuse.
  • The provider ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence based guidelines and up to date travel health information.
  • Consultations were comprehensive and undertaken in a professional manner.
  • Consent procedures were in place and these were in line with legal requirements.
  • Systems were in place to protect personal information about patients.
  • Staff had the relevant skills, knowledge and experience to deliver the care and treatment offered by the service.
  • There was an infection prevention and control policy and procedures were in place to reduce the risk and spread of infection.
  • Vaccines, medicines and emergency equipment were safely managed. There were clear auditable trails relating to stock control.
  • Information about services and how to complain was available.
  • The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.
  • There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The service proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
  • There was a clear vision and strategy and staff spoke of an open and supportive culture.

There were areas where the provider should make improvements:

  • Review staff feedback regarding non-clinical staffing levels.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice