Wigmore Medical

Updated 13 July 2023

Wigmore Medical is an independent healthcare company providing pharmaceutical importation, distribution and sales services and training in aesthetics. The service is located in Central London, in a four-storey building in a mixed commercial and residential area. The pharmacy is located on the ground floor, with the other floors used for training and office space.

The service’s pharmaceutical operations are not regulated by the Care Quality Commission and neither are the majority of the aesthetic treatments provided. Therefore these were not looked at during this inspection. The provider carries out training in thread lift procedures. Thread lifts are a regulated activity, specifically a surgical procedure, which the provider is registered to carry out.

The provider trains independent practitioners in thread lifts. The delegates are not employed by the provider on any basis. Delegates are trained using volunteers who they refer to as “models”. Volunteers are chosen from a database held by the provider. Training and the procedures are provided to adults only. The courses provided are certified by an official and recognised accreditation service.

Thread lift training is carried out by qualified trainers who are supervised by a clinical lead. Following completion of the training, delegates are offered ongoing support with treatments, products and business.

The service operates from 21 Wigmore Street, London W1U 1PJ. Further information about the service can be viewed on their website: https://www.wigmoremedical.com.

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 13 July 2023

This service is rated as Good overall. This was the service’s first inspection since registration with the Care Quality Commission.

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 Wigmore Medical as part of our inspection programme. This was the service’s first inspection since registration with the Care Quality Commission.

Wigmore Medical is an independent healthcare company providing pharmaceutical importation, distribution and sales services and training in aesthetics.

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. The pharmaceutical and sales aspects of Wigmore Medical's business and the non-surgical cosmetic procedures provided do not fall within the CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services.

Our key findings were:

• The service was generally providing safe care and there were clear systems for managing risks. However we found some concerns around staff training to respond to medical emergencies and acting as chaperones.
• The service was providing effective care. The effectiveness and appropriateness of the care provided was reviewed. There was some evidence of quality improvement activity, however this was limited due to the nature of the service.
• The service was providing caring services. Staff treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. Feedback from people who used the service was positive.
• The service was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations. There were systems and processes in place to manage feedback.
• The service was providing well-led care. Leaders had the capacity and skills to deliver high-quality, sustainable care. They demonstrated a vision to deliver high quality care and promote good outcomes for patients.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Review training to ensure staff who act as chaperones are trained for this role and patient facing staff are trained to enable them to recognise and respond patients who may have sepsis.
• Increase and improve quality improvement activity including audits.
• Take action to amend consent processes to include informing patients they will be treated by trainees under the supervision of a qualified trainer.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Health Care