Updated 24 September 2018
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.
Our inspection was led by a CQC inspector with a GP specialist advisor and a practice manager specialist advisor.
The service is part of the Nuffield Health UK health organisation, a trading charity which was established in 1957 and runs a network of 32 private hospitals, medical clinics, fitness and wellbeing centres and diagnostic units across the UK.
Nuffield Health Norwich Fitness and Wellbeing Centre is a purpose-built facility offering a full range of fitness and wellbeing activities including physiotherapy and health assessments, personal training, fitness suite, exercise classes, swimming pool and cafe. Services are predominantly for those over 18 years of age with some activities open to children, however health assessments are not available to children. Health assessments are available to both members and non-members.
The service is registered with the CQC to provide the regulated activities of diagnostic and screening procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury in relation to the health assessment services offered.
Patients have access to the following range of health assessments:
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A general lifestyle health assessment for patients wanting to reduce health risks and make lifestyle changes.
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A female assessment covering all aspects of female health including a cervical smear test and mammogram carried out by a GP.
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A 360 degree health assessment which is an in-depth assessment of a patient’s health and wellbeing and includes a review of diabetes and heart health risks. Male specific testing includes testicular examination and prostate testing.
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A 360 degree plus health assessment which is the most in-depth assessment with an extra focus on cardiovascular health in addition to bespoke health assessments focusing on weight management and resilience.
The provider has also recently introduced personalised assessments for tailored health (PATH) to support businesses in looking after their employees to help reduce costs through sickness while increasing productivity and improved health and wellbeing of their staff.
The centre is open between 6.30am and 10pm Monday to Friday and between 8am and 9pm on weekends and bank holidays. Pre-booked health assessments are available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 9am and 5pm. The team at Nuffield Health Norwich consists of a senior general manager, deputy general manager, clinic manager who is also a physiologist and the CQC registered manager and a health assessments doctor. Various administrative, reception and fitness staff support the operating of the centre.
Before visiting, we reviewed a range of information we hold about the service and asked other organisations to share what they knew. During our visit we:
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Spoke with a range of clinical and non-clinical staff including the health assessment GP, Senior General Manager and Clinic Manager.
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Reviewed a sample of the personal care or treatment records of patients.
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Reviewed service policies, procedures and other relevant documentation.
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Inspected the premises and equipment used by the service.
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Reviewed CQC comment cards completed by service users.
To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:
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Is it safe?
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Is it effective?
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Is it caring?
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Is it responsive to people’s needs?
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Is it well-led?
These questions therefore formed the framework for the areas we looked at during the inspection.