Updated 18 December 2019
Dispensaire Francais is a registered charity of medical and social support for French speaking individuals based in the UK. The organisation provides support to the French speaking community to navigate the healthcare system in the UK and in some cases facilitate their return to France for treatment. The service does not provide on-going medical treatment. Services are provided to adults and children on low income. Patients are charged a small registration and consultation fee.
Dispensaire Francais is CQC registered to provide the regulated activities of Treatment of disease, disorder or injury and Diagnostic and screening procedures. Clinical specialties at the service include general medicine, dermatology, otolaryngology, psychiatry, gynaecology, psychomotricity, psychology, physiotherapy, osteopathy, nutrition and speech therapy (speech therapy and psychology treatments provided are exempt by law from CQC regulation).
Services are provided at 184 Hammersmith Road, London, W6 7DJ. The services’ opening times are: Monday to Thursday 9am-5pm and Friday 10am-4pm. The service is closed on Saturday and Sunday. When closed, the services’ answer phone message directed people to the NHS 111 service and 999 service in the event of an emergency. Full details can be found on the website http://www.df-sfb.org.uk/en/.
Medical support is provided by 27 French speaking health professionals on a volunteer basis. All clinical staff are registered with professional bodies. The service is staffed by four employees: a receptionist, a nurse practitioner, a manager and an assistant manager. The centre is supported by a central operational and governance team based in London.
The service has seven consulting rooms two of which are leased to other healthcare professionals. The provider occupies three consulting rooms, one psychology room, one speech therapy room and a patient reception area. The building has four toilets, which are accessible to people with a disability.
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.