My Access Clinic

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 My Access Clinic as part of our inspection programme.

My Access Clinic (MAC) provide cannabis-based products for medicinal use (CBPMs) to patients with pain, anxiety or depression who have not been successful with conventional treatments.

The clinical director 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.

Our key findings were:

• There were clear aims, objectives and ethos in place, and this was confirmed by clinicians and staff when we spoke with them.
• There was a clear process in place which was completed before any medicines were prescribed, which included a full health assessment and questions on what patients wanted the medicine to achieve in reducing symptoms.
• The provider had access to comprehensive and effective, secure clinical IT system that included both electronic patients records and clinical decision tools.
• Staff recruitment and training records that we reviewed were well organised and contained all the required information.
• There were appropriate policies and processes in place and implemented by clinicians, these were updated as needed.
• Patient were provided with information on the medicines being prescribed and had access to a help line for any queries they may have.
• The provider acted on feedback from patients and responded openly to any complaints made. Appropriate actions were taken when needed when improvements were needed.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Review arrangements for safeguarding training of staff to ensure they are trained to the appropriate level for their role.
• Clarify arrangements for prescribing decisions when patients are not discussed at meetings.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care