We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 12 February 2018 to ask the service the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

We found that this service was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services effective?

We found that this service was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services caring?

We found that this service was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

We found that this service was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services well-led?

We found that this service was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Background

We carried out this inspection 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.

Avicenna Health Limited is a private medical clinic situated in Woodford in the London Borough of Redbridge. Services are provided to patients from the first floor of the Hamletts of Woodford building which houses a range of other services such as pharmacy, skin clinic and a spa facility. It is on a busy road which is well served by local buses and London Underground.

The service is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide the following regulated activities from: Hamletts of Woodford, 696-702 Chigwell Road, Woodford Green, Essex,IG8 8AL.

• Diagnostic and screening,
• Treatment of disease, disorder and injury,
• Transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely.

Avicenna Health was previously registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) under the name Home Visit Doctors and has been providing services to patients since 2015. CQC registered Avicenna Health on 30 January 2018 to carry out the aforementioned regulated activities from their present location. General practice services are provided by three male and two female doctors. Administrative tasks are undertaken by individual doctors. The service sees 15 patients on average each month and maintained and stored comprehensive clinical records for all patients. Patients who require further investigations or any additional support are referred on to other services such as their NHS GP or alternative health providers.

Avicenna Health also offers a private blood testing service which is undertaken by a sub-contracted phlebotomist who had received the relevant training and qualification. Patients who are given a test request form from their GPs can contact the service to request private blood test in their homes. The phlebotomist sends the blood sample to the hospital who will send the result directly to the patient’s GPs.

The service’s opening hours are between 9am and 6pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 2pm on Saturdays. Appointments are available with a doctor between 9.30am and 5.30pm (Monday to Friday) and 9.30am to 12.30pm (Saturday). The service also offers telephone advice to their member patients.

One of the doctors 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 was evidence in place to support that the service carried out assessments and diagnostics in line with relevant and current evidence based guidance and standards.
• The information needed to plan and deliver care and treatment was available to staff in a timely and accessible way.
• There was evidence to demonstrate that the service operated a safe and timely referral process.
• The provider operated safe and effective recruitment procedures to ensure staff were and remained suitable for their role.
• Staff understood the relevant consent and decision-making requirements of legislation and guidance, including the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
• The provider was aware of the requirements of the duty of candour.
• The arrangements for managing medicines, including emergency medicines and vaccines, in the practice minimised risks to patient safety.
• There were adequate systems for reviewing and investigating when things went wrong.
• The practice complied with the Data Protection Act 1998 and all staff had received training in information governance.
• The service had a complaints policy and procedure and information about how to make a complaint was available for patients.
• There was no evidence the service undertook any clinical improvement activity such as clinical audit.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should:

• Review and update the business continuity plan.
• Review how patients with mobility issues and those who are fully reliant on a wheelchair can access the service.
• Review the risk assessment for emergency equipment in line with the service provided.
• Review the service’s fire safety arrangements.
• Consider implementing a programme of quality improvement activity.
• Review the service’s communication channels so that they are more accessible.
• Continue to review the arrangements for providing a chaperone for patients who request one.