Hopwood Clinic

This service is rated as Good. This is the first time the provider has been inspected.

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 Hopwood Clinic as part of our inspection programme. The service is registered with Care Quality Commission (CQC) under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 for the regulated activities of surgical procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury. This is in relation to some, but not all, of the services it provides. There are some exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to types of regulated activities and services and these are set out in Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. Some of the services available at Hopwood Clinic, for example the aesthetic treatments, are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore, we were only able to inspect the pre-operative and post-operative care for the following:

• Consultation with a view to discuss possible surgical and non-surgical procedures
• Referrals to other clinical professionals
• Breast augmentation / uplift / reduction
• Gynaecomastia (surgery to remove excessive breast tissue)
• Liposuction
• Tummy tuck
• Fat grafting / fat transfer
• Scar revision
• Face lifts
• Eyelid surgery
• Rhinoplasty (nose reconstruction surgery)
• Prominent ear correction

Hopwood Clinic provides pre-operative consultations and post-operative after care. The Beauty Gurus (the provider) transfers patients under their care into an independent hospital or private wing at an NHS Hospital for surgical procedures.

The nominated individual 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.

How we carried out the inspection

Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, considering the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

This included:

• Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing
• Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider
• Requesting evidence from the provider
• A short site visit.

Our key findings were:

• The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
• Staff we spoke with felt proud to work at the clinic.
• The service had a protocol to offer staff an annual appraisal, but these had been delayed due to the pandemic.
• Whilst the service had meetings on a regular basis these were not documented.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Improve the documentation of minutes for meetings taking place at the clinic.
• Undertake staff appraisals annually.

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