King's Cross

This service is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection 13 February 2018.)

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 London Doctors Clinic Limited, King’s Cross (the clinic) on 18 July 2019 as part of our current inspection programme. We previously inspected this service on 13 February 2018 using our previous methodology, when we found the service was complaint with the relevant regulations. At that inspection, we did not apply ratings.

The clinic is operated by London Doctors Clinic Limited (the provider) which is an independent doctors service, currently providing private general medical services at 15 locations across London. All services are private, subject to payment of fees, and are usually provided on a “single-visit” basis, with patients’ long-term health conditions not being routinely managed. No NHS services are provided.

The provider 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, relating 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. For example, the provider offers some services to patients under arrangements made by their employer. These types of arrangements are exempt by law from CQC regulation and therefore we were only able to inspect the services which are not arranged for patients by their employers.

The provider’s chief executive officer is the registered manager for the clinic. 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 three completed CQC comment cards which were all consistently positive about the service. Patients commented that the doctors were attentive, caring and professional.

Our key findings were:

• Care was provided in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and a system in place for recording, reporting and learning from significant events and incidents. The provider had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents happened, the provider learned from them and reviewed its processes to implement improvements.
• There were clearly defined and embedded systems, processes and practices to keep people safe and safeguarded from abuse, and for identifying and mitigating risks of health and safety.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• The provider organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. Patients said that they could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The provider reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence-based guidelines and best practice.
• Patients told us all staff treated them with kindness and respect and that they felt involved in discussions about their care and treatment options.
• Doctors had the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• The provider took complaints and concerns seriously and responded to them appropriately to improve the quality of care.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care