Archived: THMG Chelmsford Clinic

Updated 2 November 2021

THMG Chelmsford Clinic is an independent service provider of cosmetic surgery and treatments and falls under a parent organisation, The Sk:n Group. THMG Chelmsford clinic along with other THMG clinics became part of the Sk:n Group in November 2019.

The Sk:n Group is registered at:

34 Harborne Road

Edgbaston

Birmingham

B15 3AA

There is a website: https://www.harleymedical.co.uk

THMG Chelmsford Clinic is registered with CQC to provide the following regulated activities:

• Diagnostic and screening procedures
• Surgical procedures
• Treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

The clinic is open six days a week, Monday – Saturday from 9am to 6pm, with the exception of Tuesday when the opening hours are 10am to 7pm.

How we inspected this service

Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

This included:

• Requesting evidence from the provider before the inspection.
• A short site visit, including interviews with staff.
• Reviewing the provider’s website.
• Reviewing patient feedback.

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 2 November 2021

This service is rated as Good overall. (This service had not been inspected before).

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 THMG, (The Harley Medical Group), Chelmsford Clinic on 13 October 2021 as part of our inspection programme and to provide a rating for the service.

THMG Clinic Chelmsford offers cosmetic surgery and treatments for men and women.

This service is registered with Care Quality Commission (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. THMG Chelmsford Clinic was providing the following services at the time of inspection: pre and post-operative care and laser treatments. Laser treatments are not within the scope of CQC registration and therefore, we did not inspect or report on them. We inspected and reported on the provision of pre and post-operative care.

At the time of inspection, the location was in the process of changing their registered manager. . A registered manager is a person who is registered with CQC 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 provided pre-treatment consultations with patients and follow-up after care.
• Surgical procedures were carried out off-site in a range of CQC registered hospitals and not on the premises that we inspected. These procedures were managed under service level agreement arrangements between THMG Chelmsford Clinic and the individual hospital.
• The clinic was clean and hygienic. Infection prevention and control was well managed with appropriate cleaning processes in place.
• There were good systems in place to manage risks so that safety incidents were less likely to happen.
• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place to report and record incidents.
• The service routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence-based guidelines.
• Staff involved treated people with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients were able to access care and treatment from the service within an appropriate timescale for their needs.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and development in the service.

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