Sk:n – Guildford St. Marys Terrace obtained consent from people who used the service prior to treatment taking place. One person we spoke with told us “I am always asked to sign a consent form before each treatment”.

Treatment plans maintained at the service in relation to people who used the service were clear and fully completed. Contingency plans were available for use in the event of an emergency arising ensured the care and welfare of people who used the service.

Sk:n – Guildford St Marys Terrace benefited from cleaning schedules and infection control policies which ensured the premises were clean and people using the service were protected from the risk of infection. One person with whom we spoke told us “Yes, the clinic appears to be clean whenever I go”.

Staff had been recruited, and relevant checks had been carried out, in accordance with the requirements described in Schedule 3 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010.

The service maintained a complaints policy which supported people to make a complaint where appropriate. That procedure had been followed when a complaint had been made.

At the time of our inspection the service did not have, in post, a manager who was registered with The Care Quality Commission. A manager was employed by the provider and they had submitted an application to register with CQC. The manager was unavailable on the day of our inspection which was facilitated by staff on duty.

In all of the client files we looked at there was evidence that treatment reviews had been undertaken at various intervals, depending on the treatment the individual had undertaken. One client we contacted told us: "They were very helpful, they took account of me, it was a very personal service".

One person who used the service told us: "Absolutely no complaints, they are very professional, they rang me after my first treatment to make sure everything was ok. I can't fault them in respect of customer care". Another person told us: "I have and would recommend them. Care is exceptional, they do what they say they are going to do, no hidden cost. The staff are all lovely".

We verified from examination of staff personnel files that staff had received training in safeguarding.

We confirmed that staff were appropriately trained to undertake their roles and responsibilities and were necessary, suitably registered with professional bodies.

Sk:n maintained a comprehensive audit policy. We were shown copies of monthly lead nurse clinical audits which were undertaken to monitor the quality of client files and performance of individual technicians.