Solihull Medical Cosmetic Clinic

Updated 29 September 2023

Solihull Medical Cosmetic Clinic is a doctor led clinic that provides a range of aesthetic treatments that are in scope of registration with CQC. These include the management of acne, the removal of skin lesions, cysts and moles, liposuction, thread lifts, and treatment for migraines and hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating). Further information about Solihull Medical Cosmetic Clinic and the services provided can be found on its website: solihullmedicalcosmeticclinic.co.uk

The service provides treatments to patients over the age 18 years but has on occasion seen children by exception.

Solihull Medical Cosmetic Clinic is run by Dr Victor Sagoo at 20 Chelmsley Lane, Marston Green, Solihull B37 7BG. The premises are shared with Marson Green Surgery where Dr Sagoo is also a senior GP partner.

The staff team includes two therapists and a receptionist. The service has external support for their human resources functions.

The service is registered for the following regulated activities: Surgical procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury. The service has been registered with CQC since 2013.

Patients can access Solihull Medical Cosmetic Clinic by appointment on a pay as you go arrangement. Appointments are bookable by telephone or through an online form.

The phone line to book an appointment or raise any questions is open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. The clinic is open for appointments on a Wednesday and Friday between 1pm and 7pm.

How we inspected this service

During the inspection we spoke with staff, reviewed information made available to us by the provider and intelligence held by CQC on the service, we reviewed a sample of five clinical records, made observations and reviewed patient feedback.

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 29 September 2023

This service is rated as Good overall.

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? – Requires improvement

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Solihull Medical Cosmetic Clinic on 15 August 2023 as part of our inspection programme and to provide a rating for the service. The service was previously inspected in November 2017 but not rated.

Solihull Medical Cosmetic Clinic provides a range of aesthetic treatments and procedures for those over the age of 18 years.

This service 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 exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular 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. Solihull Medical Cosmetic Clinic provides a range of non-surgical cosmetic interventions, for example laser treatments for skin and hair removal and injectable fillers to enhance appearance which are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services.

Dr Victor Sagoo is the registered manager for the service. 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 feedback on care received from seven patients who had used the service. All were happy with the care they had received.

Our key findings were:

• Solihull Medical Cosmetic clinic provided care in a way that kept patients safe.
• Clinical records seen demonstrated the delivery of safe and effective care and treatment with appropriate follow up.
• There were policies and procedures in place to support the running of the service and risk assessments had been completed where appropriate. However, systems for assuring the age of patients receiving treatment and parental responsibility for any children seen needed addressing.
• The provider had effective systems for acting on and learning from incidents and complaints.
• The provider actively undertook quality improvement activity through effective use of audits to support service improvement.
• Staff had received relevant and specific training for the services they offered.
• There were appropriate arrangements in place for obtaining consent for treatments offered including cooling off periods.
• Patient feedback seen from various sources was very positive and showed patients were treated with kindness and respect.
• Patients were able to receive timely care and treatment to meet their needs and reasonable adjustments were made to help patients access care.
• The service had a clear vision for the future and demonstrated an open and honest culture.
• We found the service was mainly well led but had not fully considered the governance around record keeping in particular, they were not registered with the information commissioner’s office and had not considered risks relating to the management of records should the provider cease trading.

The areas where the provider must make improvements as they are in breach of regulations are:

• Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Provide clear public facing information to reflect the service is not for children.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Healthcare