We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 23 August 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.

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.

Newtown Clinic offers services in dermatology, ophthalmology and community well-being nursing care to patients living in Southampton and Hampshire. Patients are referred to the service either by their registered GP or by secondary care units based at the Royal South Hampshire hospital. The service only sees adults over the age of 18 years. Patients attending the ophthalmology service may attend for the purpose of reviewing and treating cataracts or glaucoma, while those attending the dermatology service may attend for the purpose of treatment for mild to moderate skin complaints or the removal of lesions.

The service is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 for all of the services it provides. On this inspection, we inspected the dermatology and ophthalmology services provided. Newtown Clinic is registered with CQC to provide the regulated activities of diagnostic and screening procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

At the time of our inspection a registered manager was in place. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the CQC 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.

This is the first inspection by CQC of the Newtown Clinic, although services provided by the provider, Solent Medical Services Ltd have been inspected by CQC previously. The full comprehensive reports for the previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Solent Medical Services Ltd on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

We received 31 completed CQC comment cards from patients. Feedback was very positive about the service delivered at Newtown Clinic. We also spoke with patients on the day.

Our key findings were:

• Patients were positive about the service they received at Newtown Clinic.
• Clinicians regularly assessed clients according to appropriate guidance and standards.
• The provider was aware of, and complied with, the requirements of the Duty of Candour.
• Risks to patients were well-managed. For example, there were systems in place to reduce the risk and spread of infection.
• Information about how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• There were effective systems in place to check all equipment had been serviced regularly.
• Staff were up to date with current guidelines and were led by a proactive management team.
• The system for managing safety alerts was not consistently effective at the time of the inspection visit; this was addressed immediately following the visit.
• Risk assessments had been carried out and the provider had completed all actions that they were responsible for.
• There was a culture of openness and transparency throughout the service.

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

• Continue to review how the service receives and actions safety alerts.
• Review policies to ensure they are reflective of the service’s systems and processes for example, frequency of infection prevention and control training of non-clinical staff.
• Review how the service obtain assurances that staff receive appropriate training relevant to their role, for example, the Mental Capacity Act 2005, safeguarding and fire safety training.