Numan

Updated 5 June 2023

Background

Numan is a digital health service providing online and telephone consultations on a specified range of health conditions. It is a service aimed at adults; all patients must be over 18 years of age. The service is mainly aimed at men’s health addressing conditions affecting their self-esteem, confidence and lifestyle. The conditions treated are erectile dysfunction, hair loss and premature ejaculation. The service also offers weight loss treatment and supplements which are available to both men and women.

Patients sign up for the service through the service website, they complete online questionnaires which are reviewed by the GPs, prescribing pharmacists or a prescribing nurse with the support of the chief medical strategy officer and the clinical lead. Prescriptions are dispensed by a partner pharmacy and delivered to patients. Patients can also purchase blood test kits which are sent to an independent laboratory for screening. GP consultations following a blood test are provided by the service.

The clinical team comprises of GPs, prescribing pharmacists, clinical pharmacists and a prescribing nurse. Clinical oversight is provided by a clinical lead and the chief medical strategy officer. There is a management and administration team and a customer services team.

The service is registered with the CQC to carry out the following Regulated Activities: Transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely and treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

Numan has a registered manager in place. 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.

How we inspected this service

Before the inspection, we gathered and reviewed information from the provider. During this inspection, we spoke to the Registered Manager and members of the management, clinical and administration teams.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we 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 5 June 2023

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We rated this service as Good overall.

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 Numan on 14 and 17 March 2023 as part of our inspection programme.

Numan is a digital health service providing online consultations on a specified range of health conditions including men’s health, hair loss and weight management. The service offered a range of supplements. It is a service aimed at adults; all patients must be over 18 years of age. It operates through the following website: www.numan.com.

At this inspection, we found:

• The service had good systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When they did happen, the service learned from them and improved their processes.
• The service routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence-based guidelines.
• There was evidence of quality improvement activity including clinical audits.
• Consultations were comprehensive and undertaken in a professional manner.
• Consent procedures were in place and these were in line with legal requirements.
• Staff members were knowledgeable and had the experience and skills required to carry out their roles.
• Staff involved and treated people with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients could access care and treatment from the service within an appropriate timescale for their needs.
• The service had systems to manage and learn from complaints.
• The service held regular clinical governance meetings and minutes were maintained.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

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