Archived: The Burghwood Clinic

Updated 13 January 2020

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of The Burghwood Clinic on 26 November 2019. The Burghwood Clinic had previously been inspected before on the 17 November 2018 and 7 and 22 March. We found areas of non -compliance during our last inspection.

The Burghwood Clinic is an independent health clinic which specialises in the investigation and treatment of all types of food and environmental intolerances and problems associated with the immune system. The clinic provides guidance and a range of treatments and tests to help identify the cause.

The clinic is run from 34 Brighton Road, Banstead, SM7 1BS.

Opening times are Monday to Thursday 9am-5pm.

For information about practice services, opening times and appointments please visit their website at www.burghwoodclinic.co.uk.

The Burghwood Clinic is situated in a converted building which has been refurbished specifically in an environmentally friendly fashion. There are two consulting rooms, two clinical rooms for skin testing and intravenous infusions and a client waiting area. The premises also includes an administration office, a manager’s office and a laboratory. There is disabled access and parking is also available.

During our visit we:

• Spoke with the doctor, one nurse, a laboratory technician and administration staff.
• Reviewed client records and reviews.
• Looked at documents the clinic used to carry out services, including policies and procedures.

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 13 January 2020

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Burghwood Clinic 26 November 2019 as part of our inspection programme to rate all independent health and to follow up on breaches of regulations.

At our previous inspection on 14 November 2018 we asked the provider to ensure all staff received appropriate training, supervision and appraisal and to establish effective governance arrangements. We checked these areas as part of this comprehensive inspection and the provider was now complying with the regulations. For example:-

• All staff had received an appraisal and staff training was up to date.
• Documents we reviewed showed that risk assessments had been completed
• Policies had been reviewed and updated
• Findings from the Legionella risk assessment had been implemented

The Burghwood Clinic is situated in a converted building which has been refurbished specifically in an environmentally friendly fashion. There are two consulting rooms, two clinical rooms for skin testing and intravenous infusions and a client waiting area. The premises also includes an administration office, a manager’s office and a laboratory. There is disabled access and parking is also available.

The service investigates and aims to identify dietary, environmental or nutritional factors related to health problems. It also offers advice and treatment, including dietary modification and desensitisation. The service also manufactures, supplies and administers vaccines and intravenous infusions to clients.

At the time of our inspection this service was 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 general exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of service and these are set out in Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. Services are provided to clients regardless of where they live. Clients who are seen in the clinic, but do not reside in England are out of CQC scope of registration.

Dr Econs 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:

• Staff had the relevant skills, knowledge and experience to deliver the care and treatment offered by the clinic.
• All vaccines were being manufactured by the doctor as required by The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
• The clinic had good facilities, and was well equipped, to treat clients and meet their needs.
• Assessments of a client’s treatment plan were thorough with a full health history assessment taking place before treatment options were discussed.
• Clients received full and detailed explanations of any treatment options.
• The service encouraged and valued feedback from clients and staff.
• The service had systems in place to identify, investigate and learn from incidents relating to the safety of clients and staff members.
• There were processes in place to safeguard people from abuse.
• There was an infection prevention and control policy; and procedures were in place to reduce the risk and spread of infection.
• We saw that the provider had taken steps to provide assurances that the products being manufactured were free from unacceptable contamination.
• The clinic had not adhered to specialist advice that required the products to have a maximum expiry date of six years.

The areas where the provider must make improvements as they are in breach of regulations are:

• Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.

(Please see the specific details on action required at the end of this report).

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care