Yorkshire Skin Centre Ltd

This service is rated as Good overall.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Outstanding

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Yorkshire Skin Centre Ltd. on 17 August 2023. This was the first inspection of this service, which registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in April 2022. We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. The inspection was planned to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act.

Yorkshire Skin Centre Ltd. is situated in the Yeadon area of Leeds, West Yorkshire. It operates as an independent doctor-led service which specialises in medical and non-medical aesthetic treatments.

The 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. Yorkshire Skin Centre Ltd. provides a range of non-surgical cosmetic interventions, for example dermal fillers and laser hair removal which are not within the CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we do not inspect or report on these services. The services provided which require CQC registration included the use of botulinum toxin to medically treat hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating) and bruxism (teeth grinding), thread lifts, skin excisions (for example, moles and cysts), slimming treatments, skin tightening treatments, and liposuction.

The service does not treat people under the age of 18 years for those services which are regulated.

The managing director of Yorkshire Skin Centre Ltd. 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:

• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• The premises were well maintained, clean and tidy and there was an effective system in place to manage infection prevention and control (IPC).
• There was a strong patient-centred culture. Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and empowered them as partners in their care.
• There were innovative approaches to providing integrated patient-centred pathways of care that involved other service providers, particularly for people with multiple and complex needs.
• The service routinely sought feedback from patients and staff. Feedback for the service was highly positive.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care.
• Leaders encouraged innovation and research and were committed to introducing pioneering techniques and treatments into the clinic.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Improve the consistency of completing patient records, including consent recording.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

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