We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 20 December 2017 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 practice was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Courthouse Clinics Body Limited Maidenhead is a private medical clinic located in a converted house in the suburbs of Maidenhead. A range of clinics are offered from the premises but only one is required to be registered with CQC. The other services operating from the clinic are not covered by regulations which the CQC regulate against.

The service inspected undertook blood tests and reviews of the results of such tests for patients undertaking a specific weight loss programme. The blood tests were carried out to monitor organ function during the rapid weight loss programme. We did not inspect any of the other services as these were not relevant to our regulatory role. The weight loss programme is available to anyone who wishes to enter such a programme and agrees to monthly blood testing.

The clinic manager 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.

The regulated service provided at the time of inspection ran on a fortnightly basis. The GP that led the weight loss programme attended on a Thursday and blood tests were taken in advance of their attendance to enable these to be reviewed with the patient when they attended for their consultation.

Our key findings were:

• Appropriate systems were in place to identify, assess and manage risk.
• Patient feedback from the service’s satisfaction surveys were consistently positive.
• There were appropriate systems in place to take blood tests to ensure their safe transportation to the laboratory. The service received and acted upon the blood test results.
• Governance arrangements ensured policies and procedures relevant to the management of the service were kept under review.
• There were systems in place to respond to incidents and complaints.
• Basic life support training was not available to all staff working at the clinic.