23 June 2021
During a routine inspection
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 inspection of the Transform Hospital Group Exeter clinic on 23 June 2021.
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.
Transform Hospital Group Limited operates from nine clinics across England which are used for initial consultations between patients and surgeons as well as post-operative care. The provider runs two independent hospitals located at Bromsgrove and Manchester. Normally patients are able to choose from one of the two locations where they would like to have their surgical procedure.
We looked at consultation services during this inspection. This service is registered with Care Quality Commission (CQC) under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 to provide treatment of disease, disorder or injury.
Transform Hospital Group Exeter has a 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 clinic had adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients could access advice, consultations and post operative care in a timely way.
- Staff had the information they needed to deliver safe care and treatment to patients.
- Exeter Clinic had a good safety record.
- Quality improvement systems routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of pre-surgical consultations, post-operative care and support, and the outcomes for patients.
- Patient consent to care and treatment was obtained and recorded in line with national guidance.
- Staff treated patients with kindness, respect and compassion.
- Patients were respected and their privacy and dignity was maintained.
- The provider took complaints, concerns and comments seriously and responded to them appropriately to improve the quality of care.
- Structures, processes and systems to support good governance were clearly set out, understood and effective. .
The areas where the provider should make improvements are :
Provide staff access to a risk assessment tool to facilitate early identification of and action to take if a patient has suspected early sepsis.
- Review national guidance on the safeguarding training competencies required for registered nurses and implement this.
- Review and standardise post operative assessment of pain and healing for patients being assessed remotely by phone and/or at the clinic.
- Raise awareness of the Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) scheme including who the named FTSU guardian is for the company.
Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care