Archived: Snowberry Lane Clinic

Updated 5 July 2019

Snowberry Lane Clinic was founded in 2003 and is a private clinic offering medical and cosmetic procedures to adults. For children aged between 12 and 18 years the clinic is only able to offer radiosurgery, (Radiosurgery is a way of removing moles and cysts using radio-waves that are passed along a wire allowing the doctor to cut and cauterise (a process of sealing the blood vessels), the skin at the same time, and reducing bleeding) laser hair removal and treatments for acne. The clinic also provides a weight loss therapy programme for adults.

The service operates from Ridgeway House, 49 Shurnhold, Melksham, Wiltshire, SN12 6DF. The clinic’s facilities are spread over two floors and include seven treatment rooms, a minor operations room and a range of specialist medical equipment used in the delivery of their services, such as lasers. An automatic front door facilitated easy access to a waiting area where clients had access to leaflets explaining the treatments on offer.

The clinic is open six days a week. Opening times are: 9am to 7.30pm, Monday to Thursday; 9am to 4pm on Friday; and 8.30am to 1.30pm on Saturday. The clinic has two directors; one a doctor, the other a registered nurse who own the company. They employ a practice manager, a deputy manager, two nurses, three clinical therapists, two health care assistants, a domestic assistant and additional administrative staff. There are also three GPs, one nurse and a health care assistant who are self employed working at the clinic.

How we inspected this service

As part of the preparation for the inspection, we reviewed information provided to us by the service. In addition; we reviewed the information we held on our records regarding this provider.

During the inspection we utilised a number of methods to support our judgement of the services provided. For example, we toured the building, interviewed the provider, looked at the clinical systems, reviewed documents relating to the service and CQC comment cards sent prior to our inspection.

To get to the heart of clients’ 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 5 July 2019

This service is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection December 2017) The clinic was not rated.

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 Snowberry Lane Clinic as part of our inspection programme.

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.

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. 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.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of the provision of: -

• Treatment of diseases, injury and disorder

• Diagnostic and Screening Procedures

• Surgical Procedures

• Slimming Services with no prescribed medication

The aesthetic cosmetic treatments that are also provided are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore, we were only able to inspect the provision of advice and treatment and not the aesthetic cosmetic services.

The practice 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.

Thirty-three clients provided written feedback about the clinic via CQC Comments Cards. All clients commented on the high standard of care provided by clinical staff as well as the kindness and courtesy offered by reception staff. All clients said they felt involved in decision-making about the care and treatment they received. They told us they felt listened to and supported by staff and had sufficient time during consultations to make an informed decision about the choice of treatment available to them.

Our key findings were:

• 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 advice.

• There were systems, processes and practices in place to safeguard clients from abuse.

• Information for service users was comprehensive and accessible. Staff had the relevant skills, knowledge and experience to deliver the care and treatment offered by the service.

• The service encouraged, valued feedback from service users via in-house surveys and the website.

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