Effect Doctors

Updated 9 July 2021

Effect Doctors is an independent provider of intravenous infusion and vitamin injections, and diagnostic blood tests. The service treats adults over the age of 18.

Effect Doctors rent treatment rooms based at:

Chelsea Pharmacy Medical Clinic

61-63 Sloane Avenue

Chelsea

SW3 3DH

Effect Doctors also offer their service off-site at a patient’s home, hotel or office and at ‘pop up’ clinics around the country.

Information about the service can be found at: www.effectdoctors.com

Effect Doctors was founded by a group of NHS Anaesthetic Doctors who are familiar with intravenous fluid and drug administration. All treatments were exclusively doctor-delivered. The team of doctors also includes GPs, functional medicine doctors, emergency medicine doctors and intensive care doctors.

Effect Doctors is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide the regulated activities treatment of disease, disorder or injury and diagnostic and screening. The service also offers the following which are not covered under the scope of our registration and as such were not inspected or reported on:

• Botox injectables

• Cosmetic fillers

The registered manager is a doctor and the Chief Medical Officer of the organisation. 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.

The service working hours are 10:00am to 18:30pm Monday to Sunday however patients could email the service 24 hours a day and out of hours appointments could be made by arrangement.

There are four staff associated with the delivery of the regulated activities: two doctors, a business manager and a technical designer. The doctors hold the positions of Director and Chief Medical Officer. The Chief Medical Officer and registered manager is currently providing the patient-facing treatment element of the service.

The provider also employs a doctor who is the Aesthetic Lead and oversees the delivery of the aesthetic treatments which are out of scope of the CQC registration.

How we inspected this service

Prior to our inspection, a ‘Provider Information Return’ was received from the service and reviewed. We collated client feedback received by the service, interviewed staff and reviewed documentation.

During our visit we:

• Spoke with one doctor who was the Chief Medical Officer and the registered manager for the service.

• Received written interview responses from a non-clinical staff member of the service.

• Looked at the systems in place for the running of the service.

• Viewed a sample of key policies and procedures.

• Explored how clinical decisions were made.

• Viewed five patient records.

• Made observations of the environment specifically the reception area and the office and stock room.

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 9 July 2021

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 comprehensive inspection at Effect Doctors as part of our inspection programme. This was the first inspection of this service after the provider had registered with the CQC in March 2020.

Effect Doctors provide private diagnostic blood testing for patients which are sent to a GP for review and a report is subsequently generated and sent to the patient with the options of follow up from either their NHS GP and/or a private GP appointment; intravenous vitamin infusions, and vitamin injections.

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. Effect Doctors provides a range of non-surgical cosmetic interventions, for example, anti-wrinkle and facial filler treatments which are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services. In addition, during the pandemic, the service had been providing COVID 19 self-testing kits for patients which we did not inspect or report on.

The Chief Medical Officer 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.

We reviewed feedback the service received from six patients. All patients rated the service as ‘Excellent’ with five out of five stars.

Our key findings were:

The service had not been previously inspected as having been registered March 2020. Despite the reduced regulated activity as a result of the pandemic, we found the following areas of good practice:

• The service had enough clinical staff with the right qualifications, skills, training and experience to keep patients safe from avoidable harm and to provide the right treatment.
• The service controlled infection risk well. Staff kept themselves, equipment and the treatment room clean.
• Systems for the management of stock of intravenous infusions, vitamin injections and emergency medicines, were operating effectively.
• Staff we spoke with told us how they would care for a patient in a respectful and kind manner.
• The service involved patients in decisions about their care and treatment and took into account their individual needs.
• The service encouraged feedback from patients. Staff encouraged patients to leave an online review or complete a handwritten survey and these were used to monitor performance.
• The service had ensured staff had appropriate inductions and training to cover the scope of their work.
• Staff stated they worked well together as a team.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Review the intercollegiate guidance for safeguarding to assure all staff are appropriately trained according to their role in the service.
• Consistently incorporate the ‘QRISK’ (an algorithm which calculates a person's risk of developing a heart attack or stroke over the next 10 years) as part of the consultation process for patients.
• Consider incorporating mental health questions into the consultation process for patients.
• Develop a policy to support the service’s clinical decision to not provide iron intravenous infusions for patients who decline to share information with their GP.
• Provide information for patients on the service website about how to raise concerns or make a complaint.
• Formalise arrangements for the handling of patient information in the event of the service ceasing to trade.
• Formalise a business strategy and develop supporting business plans to achieve service priorities.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care