Face Medical Clinic

This service is rated as Good overall. This location has not previously been inspected or rated.

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 Face Medical Clinic as part of our inspection programme.

Face Medical Clinic is an independent clinic in Heywood, Rochdale which provides a range of bespoke healthcare services to adults and specialises in skin rejuvenation and anti-ageing treatments, including thread lifts. They also specialise in individualised bioidentical hormone replacement therapy and functional medicine for women.

The lead nurse practitioner 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.

This service is 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 exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of regulated activities and services and these are set out in Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. Face Medical Clinic provides a range of non-surgical cosmetic interventions, for example, face fillers and anti-wrinkle injections which are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services.

Our key findings were:

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place to report and record incidents.
• There were well established governance and monitoring systems which were effectively applied and were fully understood by staff.
• There were systems and processes in place to safeguard patients from abuse and staff were able to access relevant training to keep patients safe.
• There was an infection prevention and control policy and procedures were in place to reduce the risk and spread of infection.
• The service had specialised in individualised bioidentical hormone replacement therapy and functional medicine for women. Patients were prescribed unlicensed compounded medicines and systems were in place to ensure this was carried out safely.
• The clinicians were aware of current evidence based guidance and had the skills and knowledge to deliver effective care and treatment.
• All members of staff maintained the necessary skills and competence to support patients.
• The service had arrangements in place to respond to medical emergencies.
• Information about services and how to complain was available
• There was a clear vision to provide a personalised, high quality service.
• The provider had systems in pace to monitor the quality of their treatment and make improvements where necessary.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.

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