Updated 7 December 2017
Background
We inspected this service as part of our comprehensive inspection programme 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 provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2015, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Skin Doctor York on 8 November 2017.
Our inspection team was led by a CQC Lead Inspector who was accompanied by a GP Specialist Advisor.
Before visiting, we reviewed a range of information we hold about the service and asked other organisations to share what they knew. We informed Healthwatch York and NHS Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) we were inspecting the service; however we did not receive any information of concern from them.
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.
This service is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of the provision of advice or treatment by, or under the supervision of, a medical practitioner, including the prescribing of medicines for the support of cosmetic treatments.
Skin Doctor York is a private skin care clinic also known as Skin Doctor Clinics and owned by Ok Medical Ltd. Skin Doctor Clinics also have another service in Leeds known as Ok Medical Ltd T/A Skin Doctor Leeds. Skin Doctor York is a doctor led service. The service is available for patients over the age of 18. Patients can access a range of skin and body treatments including cryoliplysis (a treatment to reduce fat cells), hyperhidrosis (a treatment to reduce excessive sweating with the use of botulinum toxin) and treatments for acne, rosacea and hair removal including the use of laser therapy. At Skin Doctor York the cosmetic treatments that are also provided are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore we were only able to inspect the treatment for certain areas of aesthetic cosmetic services.
There are two independent doctors (who jointly own the service) working at the clinic with a manager, two full time salaried therapists and one part time therapist who is currently on maternity leave.
The service provides appointments as follows;
Monday – 9.30am-5pm
Tuesday - 10am-8pm
Wednesday - 10am-8pm
Thursday - 10am-8pm
Friday - 9.30am-5pm
Saturday – 9.30am-5pm
The provider is also the lead clinician and the registered manager is the manager and lead therapist. 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 viewed seven CQC comment cards that had been left for patients to complete, prior to our visit, about the services provided. Feedback from patients was very positive about the care they received. They commented that staff were caring, friendly and respectful and that they had confidence in the service provided. Patients told us they had no difficulties in arranging a convenient appointment and that staff put them at ease, listened to their concerns and were warm and understanding.
We found the service had met the regulations and had in place systems and protocols for staff to follow which kept patients safe.
Our key findings were:
There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording incidents.
Patients reported they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• All consultation rooms were well organised and equipped, with good light and ventilation.
• There were systems in place to check all equipment had been serviced regularly.
• Staff maintained the necessary skills and competence to support the needs of patients.
• Staff were up to date with current guidelines and were led by a proactive management team.
• Risks to patients were well managed for example, there were effective systems in place to reduce the risk and spread of infection.
• Staff were kind, caring, competent and put patients at their ease.
• The provider was aware of, and complied with, the requirements of the Duty of Candour.
There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should:
• Review the “what to do in the event of a medical emergency” policy.
- Review the medicines refrigerator to ensure that the temperatures can be monitored safely.
-
Review the system in place for checking expired emergency medicines.