The provider sent us an action plan which detailed the improvements they would make. We followed up progress against this quality assurance action plan. We found effective systems were now in place to monitor people's care and welfare and to learn from adverse events in order to ensure people's safety.
People who used the service told us that they felt well informed about proposed treatments and were not put under any pressure to undergo surgery. One person commented "The Exeter team do a very good job. Very kind and helpful". The care and treatment that people received was well documented and there was good communication between the clinic and the hospital where surgery was carried out.
People who used the service were protected from the risk of abuse because staff had been trained to recognise vulnerable adults and signs of abuse. Written guidance was available if abuse was suspected.
There was little evidence that induction training had taken place but staff had received on-going training and updates during their employment. Some staff had been regularly appraised but the performance of others had not been fully assessed.
Although the company had an annual quality audit programme very few audits had taken place at the Exeter clinic. We could find no evidence of audits regarding patient safety or quality of care, or of learning from adverse events.
We spoke with three staff that worked at the clinic and asked them about patient's care and treatment and looked four sets of records of patients who had used the clinic. We found that patients we spoke with were well informed about the risks and benefits of any proposed surgery prior to giving their written consent. Staff and patients we spoke with and records seen showed that a thorough assessment of each patient was undertaken to assess patient's suitability for the proposed surgery. After surgery, patient's told us they had received good follow up and appropriate support and advice from staff at the Exeter clinic. Good patient record systems were in place and written information about each patient was available at the clinic including details of their hospital treatment.
We found suitable infection control arrangements in place to ensure patients were protected from the risks of infection through good hygiene practices. Written information was provided to patients about arrangements for making a complaint and we were told about examples of improvements made as a result.
The provider was compliant with the seven outcome standards we inspected.