Sportswise Limited

Updated 10 January 2020

Sportswise Limited was founded in 1997 and provides medical, physiotherapy and allied health support to patients who have sustained a sports related injury or who suffer from musculoskeletal injury or disorder to patients privately and are not commissioned by the NHS. The provider is located on the ground floor in a building within the Eastbourne campus of the University of Brighton.

Services are provided Monday to Thursday 8am to 8.30pm, Friday 8am to 5.30pm and on Saturday from 8.15am to 12.30pm. Services are provided to adults and children aged five to eighteen years of age.

Services are provided from the following address:

The Welkin,

Carlisle Road,

Eastbourne,

East Sussex,

BN20 7SN.

The service was run from a suite of rooms on the lower ground floor of the building which was leased by the provider. The staff team at the clinic consists of two sports medicine doctors (both male) one who is a specialist in anaesthesiology and pain medicine, six physiotherapists (four female and two male), a nutritionist and a podiatrist. The clinicians were supported by a practice manager and an administrations team. The practice also uses the services of a bank nurse to support clinical procedures.

Before visiting, we reviewed a range of information we held about the service and asked other organisations to share what they knew. Prior to the inspection we reviewed the last inspection report from January 2018, any notifications received, and the information provided from pre-inspection information request.

During our visit we:

Spoke with a range of staff, including the medical director, nurse, physiotherapists, reception staff and practice manager.

Observed how patients were being cared for in the reception area.

Reviewed comment cards where patients and members of the public shared their views and experiences of the service.

Looked at information the practice used to deliver care and treatment plans.

Reviewed documents relating to the service.

Looked at equipment and rooms used when providing assessments and treatment.

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?

These questions therefore formed the framework for the areas we looked at during the inspection.

Updated 10 January 2020

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 Sportswise Limited on 29 October 2019 as part of our inspection programme, under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. 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 was the provider’s first rated inspection. The practice was previously inspected in January 2018 when the practice was not rated but was found to be compliant in all areas.

Sportswise Limited was founded in 1997 and provides medical, physiotherapy and allied health support to patients who have sustained a sports related injury or who suffer from musculoskeletal injury or disorder to patients privately and are not commissioned by the NHS. The service is registered for two activities, Treatment of Disease, Disorder or Injury and Diagnostic and screening procedures (Ultrasound). The provider is located on the ground floor in a building within the Eastbourne campus of the University of Brighton.

The medical director 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.

We received written and verbal feedback about the practice from 36 patients on the day of inspection. Feedback from patients was positive about the service and care provided. Patients described the service as being caring, respectful and professional. Several patients commented upon the excellence in clinical care afforded to them.

Our key findings were:

• Staff had high levels of skills, knowledge and experience to deliver the care and treatment offered by the service.

• Services were offered on a private, fee paying basis only.

• Facilities were of a good standard and were well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.

• Patients were provided with detailed treatment plans to support their care and treatment.

• Patients received full and detailed explanations of any treatment options.

• The service had systems in place to promote the reporting of incidents.

• There were infection prevention and control policies and procedures in place to reduce the risk and spread of infection.

• The service encouraged and valued feedback from patients and staff. Feedback from

  patients was very positive.

• The provider had clear systems and processes in place to ensure care was delivered safely and good governance and management was supported.

• There was a focus upon continuous improvement and exploration of innovations in treatment to achieve optimum outcomes for patients.

• The culture of the service encouraged candour, openness and honesty.

  The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Continue with plans to update training for staff in child and adult safeguarding.

• Continue to take steps to secure servicing of the ultrasound machine.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care