We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 23 November 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.

Notable practice

The building is listed, restricting changes that may be made to the building and preventing the installation of a ramp for disability access. There is a consulting room downstairs for patients who have limited mobility and may be unable to manage the stairs. Patients who could not access the building were seen by special arrangements at a local independent hospital where the provider hires a room for that purpose.

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.

The Canterbury Skin and Laser Clinic is a private facility providing general dermatology consultations and treatments. They also conduct cosmetic treatments to day-clients using a range of non-invasive or minimally invasive procedures including laser and non-laser technology and treatment techniques. It is located in mid terrace premises in Canterbury town centre with a pay and display car parking nearby. The Canterbury Skin and Laser Clinic will not treat anybody under the age of 18 without the appropriate supervision of a family member and/or a trained paediatric nurse under any circumstances. It is a general rule that all patients/clients under the age of 18 will be treated in one of the private hospital clinics or NHS hospital where at all possible.

The Canterbury Skin and Laser Clinic is led by a Consultant Dermatologist and Laser Specialist. It is the winner of the Gold Award for Cosmetic Clinic of the Year at The Kent Health and Beauty Awards 2016. Staff comprise of a further Consultant Dermatologist, two Associate Specialists in Dermatology, a Vascular Consultant, a Semi Permanent Makeup (SPMU) specialist, an Aesthetic Nurse, three part time secretaries/receptionists and three part time aestheticians/beauty therapists..

The clinic is open from 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Saturday with some evening work on a Wednesday and Thursday when the clinic is open until 7pm.

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.

Therefore, at Canterbury Skin and Laser Clinic, we were only able to inspect the services which were subject to regulation.

The registered provider 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.

As part of our inspection we also asked for CQC comment cards to be completed by patients prior to our inspection. We received 49 comment cards all of which were positive about the standard of care received. There was praise for the clinical staff, particularly for their diagnostic and listening skills. There was also praise for the reception staff for being caring and attentive.

Our key findings were:

• The care provided was safe. There was a culture of placing safety at the core of activity.
• Systems to support safe and safety within the building were effective and well embedded.
• The provider put the patients’ needs before financial consideration.
• The was a strong emphasis on continuous learning for staff.
• There was abundant information for patients on how to approach their treatment. This included providing in-house leaflets, as well as standard leaflets, and links to the latest dermatological research. Patients were enabled to be as knowledgeable about their choices as possible.
• There was a very wide range of lasers available allowing patients to be treated at the clinic rather than referring to secondary care.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should

• Review resuscitation for clinical and non clinical staff, in particular the staff member assisting at most minor surgery.
• Review the use of audits to assess the quality of clinical care and patient outcomes.