Purple Medical Clinic

Updated 2 November 2022

Purple Medical Clinic is located at Bridge Street, Garstang, PR3 1YB. It is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as an independent health service provider. The provider Purple Plastic Surgery Limited employs two staff to consult on and offers consultations regarding cosmetic surgery, skin, cancers, skin lesions, cysts, lipomas, cosmetic mole removal, medical aesthetics, medical skincare, and medico-legal reporting. The clinic’s opening times are by appointment only.

The website for the service is https://www.stuartmckirdy.com/

How we inspected this service

As part of the inspection we requested some information, policies, procedures and other documentation which was reviewed prior to the inspection. We also completed an on-site visit to Purple medcial clinic at Bridge Street, Garstang, PR3 1YB on 29 September 2022. We spoke to staff face to face or by video conferencing remotely, we inspected the environment, made observations and reviewed policies, documents and patient’s records.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:

• Is it safe?
• Is it effective?
• Is it caring?
• Is it responsive to people’s needs?
• Is it well-led?

These questions therefore formed the framework for the areas we looked at during the inspection.

Updated 2 November 2022

This service is rated as Good overall.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Purple Medical Clinic. This was the location’s first inspection since it was first registered on 26 March 2021.

The service is registered to provide the following regulated activities:

• Diagnostic and screening procedures
• Surgical procedures
• Treatment of disease, disorder or injury

The organisation offers consultations regarding cosmetic surgery, skin, cancers, skin lesions, cysts, lipomas, cosmetic mole removal, medical aesthetics, medical skincare, and medico-legal reporting.

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 regulated activities and services and these are set out in Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. Purple Medical Clinic provides a range of non-surgical cosmetic interventions, for example anti-wrinkle treatments which are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services.

The lead nurse Lindsay McKirdy 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.

Our Key findings were:

• The service was offered on a private, fee-paying basis only and was accessible to people who chose to use it.
• Information for people who used the service was comprehensive and accessible to people. Information was available in paper or electronic format and could be made suitable for people with individual accessibility issues. The service website detailed the services on offer and the associated costs. Price lists and leaflets were available on site.
• The two staff members that undertook consultations, procedures and regulated treatments were registered healthcare professionals. They had the relevant skills, knowledge and experience to deliver the care and treatment offered by the service.
• The provider had relevant staff recruitment records to ensure they complied with the regulations.
• There were effective systems and processes to assess the risk of, prevent, detect and control the spread of infection and to mitigate the potential risks from COVID-19.
• The provider monitored feedback from people who used their service. Evidence was available which showed people commented positively about the service they received.
• Procedures were safely managed and a system that offered post treatment support to people was in place, should this be required.
• Appropriate informed consent, assessment of expectations, psychological factors and cooling off periods were in place.
• The client recording system comprehensively recorded all relevant client information including written consent to treatment, procedure notes, follow up instructions and background information. Patient records were stored securely to prevent unauthorised access.
• Procedures were in place to ensure those seeking treatment who were under the age of 18 were identified and treatment declined.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services