Harley Street Skin

Updated 10 October 2023

Harley Street Skin is a doctor led private practice providing a range of medical and cosmetic treatments including private consultations, minor surgical procedures under local anaesthetic and prescribing of medicines in relation to the treatment of skin disorders. They are located at 48 Harley Street, London, W1G 9PU. The property is not wheelchair accessible and the premises are not serviced by a lift. The provider is registered with the Care Quality Commission to carry on the regulated activities of Diagnostic and screening procedures, Treatment of disease, disorder or injury and Surgical procedures

Consultations are available between 9am and 7pm Monday to Saturday at Harley Street, however procedures are then carried out at a private hospital. This inspection was only of the activities carried on at 48 Harley Street. The service is only available to adults. The clinical team consists of four male doctors supported by a general manager and team of administrative staff.

How we inspected this service

We reviewed information sent to us by the provider remotely prior to attending the site to reduce the time spent on site. We spoke with a range of staff and looked at records related to patient assessments and the provision of care and treatment. We also reviewed documentation related to the management of the service. We reviewed patient feedback provided both to the service and a third party.

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 10 October 2023

This service is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection November 2019 – Good)

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 of Harley Street Skin as part of our inspection programme. 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.

One of the consultants 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.

Harley Street Skin provides range of medical and cosmetic treatments. They also carry out a range of non-surgical cosmetic interventions, for example Botox injections, which are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services.

Our key findings were:

• The service routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence-based guidelines.
• The provider had systems in place to protect people from avoidable harm and abuse.
• There was a clear vision to provide a safe, personalised, high quality service.
• Patients could access care and treatment from the service within an appropriate timescale for their needs.
• The service had a business development strategy that effectively monitored the service provided to assure safety and patient satisfaction.
• Feedback about the practice was positive from patients.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning, improvement and innovation at all levels.

We saw the following Outstanding practice:

A systematic approach was taken to working with other organisations to improve care outcomes. The provider worked closely with a charity that supported injured service men and women and provided treatment free of charge to veterans who were suffering from blast injuries, facial disfigurement and burns, including reconstructive surgery. Their injuries affected their everyday lives and were often both physical and psychological. We saw testimonials both from them and family members describing the positive impact it had had on their everyday lives. The lead clinician had been shortlisted for a Health & Rehabilitation award for this work.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Health Care