The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • Urgent care service or mobile doctor

Archived: Health Bridge Limited London

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Level 3, Block 3, 3 Angel Square, London, EC1V 1NY (020) 3588 0290

Provided and run by:
Health Bridge Limited

Important: This service is now registered at a different address - see new profile

All Inspections

18 Apr 2019

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We rated this service as Good overall. (Previous inspection May 2017, when we found the provider was meeting the relevant standards).

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 Health Bridge Limited London on 18 April 2019 as part of our inspection programme.

Health Bridge Ltd was established in 2011 and registered with the Care Quality Commission in 2011. Health Bridge Ltd operates an online clinic for patients. Within the UK the service has recently been re-branded as Zava, and offers a service to UK based patients via the following websites: www.zavamed.com; and www.onlinedoctor.superdrug.com (providing online doctor services on behalf of Superdrug). The service provides consultations and private prescriptions.

At this inspection we found:

  • The service had good systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When they did happen, the service learned from them and improved their processes.
  • The service routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
  • Staff involved and treated people with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
  • Patients could access care and treatment from the service within an appropriate timescale for their needs.
  • There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care

31 May 2017

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Health Bridge Ltd on 31 May 2017.

Health Bridge Ltd was established in 2011 and registered with the Care Quality Commission in 2011. Health Bridge Ltd operates an online clinic for patients via the following websites: www.dred.com; www.zavamed.com; www.onlinedoctor.superdrug.com ; providing consultations and private prescriptions.

We found this service provided safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Our key findings were:

  • The service had clear systems to keep people safe and safeguarded from abuse.
  • There was a comprehensive system in place to check the patient’s identity.
  • There were systems in place to mitigate safety risks including analysing and learning from significant events and safeguarding.
  • There were appropriate recruitment checks in place for all staff.
  • Prescribing was monitored to prevent any misuse of the service by patients and to ensure doctors were prescribing appropriately.
  • There were systems to ensure staff had the information they needed to deliver safe care and treatment to patients.
  • The service learned and made improvements when things went wrong. The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.
  • Patients were treated in line with best practice guidance and appropriate medical records were maintained.
  • The service had a programme of ongoing quality improvement activity.
  • An induction programme was in place for all staff and GPs registered with the service received specific induction training prior to treating patients. Staff, including GPs, also had access to all policies.
  • The service shared information about treatment with the patient’s own GP with their consent.
  • Patient survey information we reviewed showed the latest Trust Pilot score for the ‘Superdrug online doctor’ service was ‘9.3 out of 10’ based on a total of 6,443 reviews of the service. The Trust Pilot score for ‘Dr Ed’ was also ‘9.3 out of 10’ based on a total of 1,070 reviews. Patients’ comments included satisfaction with the provider’s delivery times and the convenience of using the service.
  • There was a clear business strategy and plans in place.
  • Staff we spoke with were aware of the organisational ethos and philosophy and told us they felt well supported and that they could raise any concerns.
  • There were clinical governance systems and processes in place to ensure the quality of service provision.
  • The service encouraged and acted on feedback from both patients and staff.
  • Systems were in place to protect personal information about patients. The company was registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office.


Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice