86 Harley Street

Updated 4 July 2022

The registered provider for the service is The Wimpole Street clinic for women Limited. The provider is registered to carry out the regulated activity of:

• Treatment of disease, disorder or injury
• Diagnostic and screening procedures
• Family planning

The service consists of a consultant gynecologists, a practice manager and a chaperone. The service is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and there are between 13 to 15 appointments held each day. Patients have access to the on-call doctor via a triage system accessed by telephone. Patient records are all computer based. The service refers patients to other providers when necessary.

How we inspected this service

Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, considering the circumstances arising as as 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 service and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

During our inspection we:-

• Looked at the systems in place relating to safety and governance of the service.
• Viewed key polices and procedures.
• Conducted interviews with staff.
• Reviewed clinical records.

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 4 July 2022

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? – Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at 86 Harley Street, London on 22 June 2022. This inspection was undertaken as part of our programme of inspecting independent doctor services registered with the commission. This inspection was the first rated inspection following registration with the commission.

The clinic offers a range of gynaecological services covering the full life of a women’s sexual health, from early conversations about contraception to pregnancy and fertility advice, menopause and ongoing sexual health.

Jeffery Braithwaite was 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.

Our key findings were:

• Staff had training in key skills, understood how to protect patients from abuse.
• The service had systems and processes in place to mitigate any risks to health and safety.
• Individual care records were written and managed in a way that kept patients safe. The care records we saw showed that information needed to deliver safe care and treatment was available to relevant staff in an accessible way.
• The service had a safe system in place for the management of medicines.
• The service acted on and learned from external safety and significant events .
• Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, took account of their individual needs, and helped them understand their conditions. They provided emotional support to patients, families and carers.
• The service planned care to meet the needs of people, took account of patients’ individual needs, and made it easy for people to give feedback. People could access the service when they needed it and did not have to wait too long for treatment.
• Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and supported staff to develop their skills. Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities. The service engaged well with patients and the community to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services continually.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Regular checks on the defibrillator which is located on the third floor of the building and currently checked by another service. The provider should maintain their own individual checks on a regular basis.

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