We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 19 January 2016 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

The star throwers clinic is situated in Wymondham, Norfolk in a residential street. The clinic is a registered charity which provides support services to patients that have been diagnosed with cancer and treats patients who refer themselves to the clinic. All services are free of charge and aim to support the patient by providing information about treatment options, providing holistic therapies such as massage and reiki and a support network through volunteers.

The clinic has one doctor and a nurse. There is a business manager, a team of volunteers and specialist therapists.

The clinic is open Monday to Friday between 10am and 4pm.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. There are some exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of service and these are set out in Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. We therefore only examined those parts of the service that were covered by Star Throwers registration; these did not include the provision of holistic treatments such as massage and reiki.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed with appropriate referrals being made to specialist care and their GP.
• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment with regular monitoring of staff by senior clinicians.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• The clinic had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management.

The area where the provider could make improvements and should is:

• Increase frequency of updating internal policies.