The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • Independent doctor

Sk:n - Leeds Street Lane

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

52 Street Lane, Roundhay, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS8 2ET (0113) 468 8988

Provided and run by:
Lasercare Clinics (Harrogate) Limited

All Inspections

17 November 2022

During a routine inspection

This service is rated as Good overall. The service had been previously inspected in February 2020 when it was rated as Good.

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

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Sk:n -Leeds Street Lane on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Sk:n - Leeds Street Lane is situated in the Roundhay area of Leeds, West Yorkshire. The provider operates as an independent doctor-led service which specialises in the combination of medical aesthetic treatments and anti-ageing medicine, as well as offering rejuvenation and dermatology services.

The service is registered with the 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 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. For example, Sk:n – Leeds Street Lane provides a range of non-surgical cosmetic interventions, for example laser hair removal, lip fillers and facial peels which are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services.

Sk:n – Leeds Street Lane shares the building it operates from with two other distinct services operated by the provider, The MOLE Clinic, and Harley Medical Group. These services did not form part of the inspection.

At the time of inspection, the location did not have a registered manager in post, and the provider was in the process of appointing someone into this role. 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. The provider did have a person designated as a nominated individual for the service.

Why we carried out this inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Sk:n – Leeds Street Lane in response to concerns that had been raised with us.

How we carried out the inspection

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site.

This included:

  • Conducting staff interviews, some using telephone conferencing.
  • Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider.
  • Requesting evidence from the provider.
  • Undertaking a site visit to the location.
  • Speaking with patients and reviewing their feedback.

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

  • Is it safe?
  • Is it effective?
  • Is it caring?
  • Is it responsive?
  • Is it well-led?

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

Our key findings were:

  • The service provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
  • Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
  • Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
  • Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
  • The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care.
  • Leaders and staff from the organisation were open, transparent and honest regarding issues and challenges they had identified. Once identified, issues such as delays in handling complaints had been tackled and processes put in place to prevent recurrence.
  • The service had developed a detailed quality assurance and audit programme. This was regularly reviewed and reported to organisational board level.
  • The service routinely sought feedback from patients and used this to improve services.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • Continue with the application process to appoint a suitable registered manager.
  • Improve the consistency of care record completions.
  • Improve the accuracy of pathology sample records, and the timeliness of handling and reporting results.
  • Continue to promote staff engagement and hold performance management meetings.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

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

During a routine inspection

This service is rated as Good overall.

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Sk:n - Leeds Street on the 25 February 2020, as part of our inspection programme. We visited their site at 52 Street Lane, Roundhay, Leeds, LS8 2ET, West Yorkshire, LS20 8EB. The previous inspection in November 2013 was unrated; we found it met the five standards we inspected.

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 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.

Sk:n - Leeds Street is situated in the Roundhay area of Leeds, West Yorkshire. The provider operates as a doctor-led service which specialises in the combination of medical aesthetic treatments and anti-ageing medicine, as well as offering rejuvenation and dermatology treatments.

This service provides independent dermatology services, offering a mix of regulated skin treatments and minor operations as well as other non-regulated aesthetic treatments. There are some exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of regulated activities and services and these are set out in and of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. We only inspected and reported on the services which are within the scope of registration with the CQC.

This service is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides.

This service is registered with the CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 to provide treatment of disease, disorder or injury, surgical procedures and diagnostic and screening services as regulated activities, and this was the focus of our inspection.

The clinic manager is the registered manager for the service. 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.

We received ten completed CQC comment cards during our visit, all of which were positive. They described the service and staff as being friendly, professional and non judgemental. The premises were described as clean and welcoming.

During the inspection we reviewed a range of systems and processes relating to governance, service delivery and customer care.

Our key findings were:

• There were clear systems in place to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen.

• The service was offered on a private, fee-paying basis and was accessible to people who chose to use it.

• Procedures were safely managed and there were effective levels of client support and aftercare.

• There were systems and processes in place to safeguard people from abuse. All clinical staff had a documented record of safeguarding training.

• The service encouraged and valued feedback from patients. Feedback was positive regarding the services. They commented on the caring attitude of staff and the cleanliness of the clinic.

• There was a leadership and managerial structure in place with clear responsibilities, roles and accountability to support good governance.

• Staff were aware of their own roles and responsibilities. They said they felt supported by leaders and managers who were accessible and visible. Communication between staff was effective.

• There was a clear commitment to regulation and using this as a framework to ensure a high and safe standard of care for patients.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care

1 November 2013

During a routine inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service. They told us they had been provided with information about their treatment options and had been told about the actual procedure including the benefits, possible risks and the aftercare treatment.

Comments included, "Staff discussed everything with me in great detail" and "The staff went through all the information about the procedure step by step and that made me feel at ease."

We observed people were treated respectfully and staff were attentive to maintaining the privacy and dignity of those they cared for.

People were cared for, or supported by, suitably qualified, skilled and experienced staff and suitable checks were carried out prior to commencing work.

We saw evidence of feedback from people who used the service, comments seen included, "Brilliant care by all the staff ", "Treatment was really good and I am very happy" and "Staff were very friendly."

The provider had a system for checking the quality and safety of the service and records were maintained and held securely.

27 November 2012

During a routine inspection

We spoke with six people who used the service and they said that they were very satisfied with the care and treatment they received. People said that they were fully involved in deciding about the treatments they received. People said that the staff explained to them the treatment options, the risks involved with the treatments and the fees, so that they could make informed decisions

They told us that they were happy to ask staff anything in relation to the treatment and staff were very friendly and helpful.

People we spoke with said the clinic was clean and they had no concerns with the hygiene.

One person said the staff were, "Very supportive and explained procedures to them each time they came to the clinic." Another person said, "They were brilliant." One person said that the staff had told them, "If you need any help at all please don't hesitate to ring and speak to us."