Sapphire Clinics (London) Limited Also known as Curaleaf Clinic

Updated 26 July 2021

Sapphire Clinic London Ltd provides medical treatment for patients focused around the use of Cannabis-based products for medicinal use (CBPMs) by experienced medical staff working within the latest Governmental guidelines. The service is located at 10 Harley Street, London W1G 9PF. The building entrance lobby is accessed via steps from the pavement. Wheelchair access is via a ramp at the front of the building. The service has access to consultation rooms and a waiting area for patients. However, at the time our inspection most consultations were taking place online due to Covid – 19.

The opening hours are 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Patients can also book appointments for evenings and weekends. The medical team comprises of eight consultants who specialise in Psychiatry, Pain and Neurology. There is also a managing director, operations director, a medical director, chief financial officer, chief pharmacist and five administration and support staff.

The service treats a range of conditions including pain, psychiatric conditions, neurological conditions, gastroenterological and palliative care.

How we inspected this service

We reviewed information sent to us by the provider remotely prior to attending the site to reduce the time spent on site in line with our Covid- 19 inspecting guidance. We spoke with the managing director, clinical director, registered manager, two consultants and administrative staff. We looked at records related to patient assessments and the provision of care and treatment. We also reviewed documentation related to the management of the service. We reviewed patient feedback provided to a third party.

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 26 July 2021

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Sapphire Clinics (London) Limited as part of our inspection programme.

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? – Outstanding

We carried out this announced comprehensive inspection of Sapphire Clinics (London) Limited 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 service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Sapphire Clinics (London) Limited provides medical treatment for patients focused around the use of Cannabis-based products for medicinal use (CBPMs) by experienced medical staff working within the latest Governmental guidelines.

The Managing 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.

We did not speak directly with patients during the inspection.

Our key findings were:

• The service routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence-based guidelines.
• The provider had systems in place to protect people from avoidable harm and abuse.
• There was a clear vision to provide a safe, personalised, high quality service.
• All staff we spoke with felt valued by the leaders and said there was a high level of staff support and engagement.
• Patients could access care and treatment from the service within an appropriate timescale for their needs.
• The service had comprehensive business development strategy that effectively monitored the service provided to assure safety and patient satisfaction.
• The provider was involved in a variety of cross collaborative working projects and were engaged with policy makers in relation to furthering the understanding of CBPMs and developing this area of medicine.
• Feedback about the practice was extremely positive from patients and peers. The clinic had received two awards for best medical cannabis clinic from service users and the industry.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement. The provider had set up the Sapphire Institute for staff training. The educational programme was open to any interested clinician.

We saw the following areas of outstanding practice:

• The leadership, governance and culture was used to drive and improve the delivery of high-quality person-centred care. The provider had set up The UK Medical Cannabis Registry, which is a bespoke real-world data collection platform to systematically monitor patient outcomes
• The leadership drove continuous improvement. The custom-built IT system was designed and developed by patients and staff to improve patient care.
• There was a clear proactive approach to seeking out and embedding new ways of providing care and treatment. The clinic took part in ‘Grand Rounds’ with an international clinic where both clinics presented interesting and complex cases for MDT teaching and learning.

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