Global Express Travel Health Clinic

Updated 12 November 2018

Global Express Travel Health Clinic Ltd is located at Lowford Clinic, 20 Hamble Lodge, Hamble Lane, Bursledon, Southampton. SO13 8BR. The service was launched in February 2018 and provides travel health services primarily to the population of Southampton and surrounding areas. The provider shares premises with other businesses but operates independently.

The clinic offers travel health consultations, travel and non-travel vaccines, blood tests for antibody screening and travel medicines such as anti-malarial medicines to children and adults. They also provide travel related retail items. Appointments are available Monday to Friday 09:00 – 18:00 and by appointment on Saturdays. The clinic employs one nurse who is also the owner and registered manager. The clinic shares a receptionist with other businesses within the building and it consults with approximately 150 patients per month. Virtual support for the travel nurses is provided by the medical team who are based at the head office in London.

We inspected the clinic on 21 September 2018. The inspection was led by a CQC inspector who had access to advice from a specialist advisor.

Before visiting, we reviewed a range of information we hold about the service. We also asked the service to complete a provider information request. During our visit we:

• Spoke with the lead nurse who was also the registered manager
• Looked at information the clinic used to deliver care and treatment plans.
• Reviewed comment cards where patients and members of the public shared their views and experiences of the clinic.

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 12 November 2018

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 21 September 2018 to ask the service the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

We found that this service was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services effective?

We found that this service was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services caring?

We found that this service was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

We found that this service was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services well-led?

We found that this service was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

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. This was the first inspection of this service.

This location is registered with CQC, under the location name Global Express Travel Health Clinic Ltd, in respect of the provision of advice or treatment by, or under the supervision of, a medical practitioner, including the prescribing of medicines for the purposes of travel health. It is a private clinic providing travel health advice, travel and non-travel vaccines, blood tests for antibody screening and travel medicines such as anti-malarial medicines to children and adults. In addition, the clinic holds a licence to administer yellow fever vaccines.

The lead nurse and owner of the business 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:

• The organisation was in the start-up phase and had been operating for three months at the time of the inspection. The provider had a vision to deliver high quality travel healthcare and to develop the service further.

• The provider had carried out a quality assurance and risk assessment that incorporated a variety of aspects of safety. However, the provider did not have oversight of risk assessments in relation to health and safety for the premises.
• There was an effective system to manage infection prevention and control and the safe management of medicines.
• Patients received an individualised travel risk assessment and health information including additional health risks related to their destinations.

• Patients were treated with kindness, respect and compassion. Patient feedback was proactively sought using a variety of methods, which were positive about the service.

• The provider understood the needs of its population and tailored services in response to those needs.

• There were some structures, processes and systems in place to support good governance. However, we found that these were not always implemented and embedded effectively.

There were areas where the provider should make improvements:

• Inform patients that a chaperone may be requested.
• Achieve oversight of health and safety in relation to the premises.
• Undertake comprehensive risk assessments had been undertaken for all areas of business activity.
• Establish a complaints policy that is easily accessible to patients.
• Establish non-clinical governance processes that cover all areas of the business.