Outline Skincare Ltd

Updated 3 June 2019

The registered provider of the clinic is Outline Skincare Ltd. Outline Skincare Ltd is situated on the first and second floor within a residential property at St Peters Manor, St Peters Church Lane in Droitwich, Worcestershire WR9 7AN.

Outline Skincare Ltd provides laser treatments which includes hair reduction, tattoo, benign pigmented lesion and verruca removal, and vascular treatment (thread veins). Treatments are available to adults of 18 years and over only.

Treatments are provided in designated rooms that have been approved for laser use by a Laser Protection Advisor (LPA) and are carried out according to Medical Protocols drawn up by an Expert Medical Practitioner (EMP).

The clinic is open from 10am to 8pm on Mondays to Thursdays, Fridays from 9am to 6pm and Saturdays from 9am to 5pm. The providers website is www.outlineskincare.co.uk.

How we inspected this service

Before our inspection we reviewed information we held about the clinic. We also reviewed information that we had received from the provider ahead of the inspection and information available on the providers’ website. We also reviewed patient feedback questionnaires.

The methods that were used included feedback comments from people using the service, interviewing staff, observations and review of documents.

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?

Updated 3 June 2019

This service is rated 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 Outline Skincare Ltd on 16 April 2019 as part of our current inspection programme. The clinic had been inspected on 21 March 2018 under our previous methodology and no rating had been applied.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of the provision of laser treatments for hair removal, thread veins and pigmented lesions. Laser treatment is also used for the removal of warts, verruca and tattoo removal but these are out of scope for registration with CQC. Aesthetic cosmetic treatments are also provided at Outline Skincare Limited which are exempt by law from CQC regulation. We were only able to inspect services provided in relation to laser treatments and not the aesthetic cosmetic services.

One of the directors of Outline Skincare Limited 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.

The registered manager is a registered Nurse Prescriber and underwent revalidation in September 2017 by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, following an appraisal by the British Association of Cosmetic Nurses.

Our key findings were:

We found that:

• The clinic provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• There were clearly defined and embedded systems, processes and practices in place to keep people safe and safeguarded from abuse and for identifying and mitigating risks of health and safety.
• The clinic reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines and best practice.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care delivered in line with current guidelines. Staff had the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Staff treated patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and a system in place for recording, reporting and learning from significant events. The clinic had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the clinic learned from them and improved their processes.
• There were clear responsibilities, roles and systems of accountability to support effective governance.
• Policies and procedures had been kept under regular review and updated in most instances. Establishing a review timeframe that was consistent for all policies would be beneficial. This would ensure that review periods did not expire or that they were missed.
• The way the clinic was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
• There was a clinic development plan that documented both long and short-term priorities for the service. There was visible clinical and managerial leadership with audit arrangements in place to monitor quality.
• Staff told us they felt well supported and positive about working at the clinic. They enjoyed their jobs and were proud to work in the clinic.
• Feedback from patients about their care was consistently positive.

The area where the provider should make improvements is:

• Establish a review timeframe that is consistent for all policies to ensure that review periods do not expire or are not missed.

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