Sk:n - Middlesbrough James Cook Hospital

Updated 27 July 2021

Sk:n – Middlesbrough James Cook Hospital, James Cook University Hospital, Marton Road, Middlesbrough TS4 3BW is located within James Cook University Hospital. It is part of a large group of clinics owned by Lasercare Clinics (Harrogate) Ltd. We visited this site as part of the inspection. The clinic includes a reception and waiting area, and treatment rooms. Customer parts of the building are fully accessible. Parking is available in the hospital car park.

Sk:n – Middlesbrough James Cook Hospital is registered under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 to provide the regulated activities of surgical procedures, diagnostic and screening procedures, and treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

This clinic is registered to treat patients of all ages. The services offered include those that fall under registration, such as medical acne treatment and laser treatment for complex birthmarks for children and other complex conditions. Other procedures, that do not fall under scope of registration include lip fillers, skin peels, anti-ageing injectables, dermal fillers and laser hair removal.

There is one male doctor who carries out CQC registered procedures at the site, they are on the General Medical Council specialist register for dermatology. There is also one female nurse prescriber.

The providers website is www.sknclinics.co.uk and from there, information on all locations can be accessed for a network of over 50 clinics across the UK. Core opening hours are Monday to Friday 10am – 8pm; Saturday 9am-6pm and Sunday 10am-5pm. A contact centre is available seven days a week with access to an out of hours clinic nurse rota.

How we inspected this service

Before the inspection we reviewed a range of information we hold about the service and information which was provided by the service.

During the inspection we:

• spoke with the clinic manager, the medical director and the nurse prescriber and reviewed questionnaires completed by non-clinical staff.
• reviewed key documents which support the governance and delivery of the service.
• made observations about the area the service was managed from.
• reviewed a sample of treatment records.
• looked at information the service used to deliver care and treatment plans.

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 27 July 2021

This service is rated as Good overall. This was the first time we had rated this service. (The previous inspections in February 2013 and January 2014 were unrated; at both inspections we found the service 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 an announced comprehensive inspection on 9 June 2021 at Sk:n – Middlesbrough James Cook Hospital as part of our inspection programme.

Sk:n – Middlesbrough James Cook Hospital is registered under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 to provide the regulated activities:

• Surgical procedures

• Diagnostic and screening procedures, and

• Treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

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. Sk:n – Middlesbrough James Cook Hospital provides a range of non-surgical cosmetic interventions, for example, lip fillers, skin peels, anti-ageing injectables, dermal fillers and laser hair removal which are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect, or report on these services.

The clinic manager 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 provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording incidents.
• Risk assessments had been completed to assure the provider of the safety of the premises.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• Staff were appropriately trained to carry out their roles.
• Staff maintained the necessary skills and competence to support the needs of patients.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• Staff treated patients with compassion, respect and kindness and involved them in decisions about their care.
• There was a clear strategy and vision for the service. The leadership and governance arrangements promoted good quality care.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care