We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 17 May 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.

Nuffield Health refer to service users as patients and this is reflected throughout the report.

Nuffield Health Harrogate Fitness & Wellbeing Centre provides a range of health assessments and screening relating to the physical and mental wellbeing of people. These services are available for fee paying/private patients aged 18 years or over.

This service is registered with Care Quality Commission (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. At Nuffield Health Harrogate Fitness & Wellbeing Centre services are provided to patients under arrangements made by their employer with whom the servicer user holds a policy. These types of arrangements are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore, at Nuffield Health Harrogate Fitness & Wellbeing Centre, we were only able to inspect the services which are not arranged for patients by their employers with whom the patient holds a policy.

The general manager at the centre is the registered manager. 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.

As part of our inspection we asked for CQC comment cards to be completed by patients prior to our inspection. There were four comment cards completed, all of which were very positive. They described the service as being excellent or very good and would recommend to others. Staff were described as being very professional and providing clear explanations.

We also reviewed satisfaction rates for the preceding 12 months, which patients had completed after their assessment at the service. We found that these were consistently positive.

Our key findings were:

• There was an overarching governance framework which supported strategic objectives, performance management and the delivery of quality care. This encompassed all Nuffield Health locations and ensured a consistent and corporate approach.
• There was good local leadership and a cohesive team, who were supported at an organisational level.
• Clinicians were committed to improving the outcomes of patients and delivering quality care.
• The organisation encouraged and acted on staff and patient feedback. Patient feedback was consistently positive about the staff and the service they received.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice