Updated 15 June 2018
London Knightsbridge Cosmetic Clinic Ltd is an independent provider of aesthetic medical services and treats adults over 18 in in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. London Knightsbridge Cosmetic Clinic Ltd is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide the regulated activities surgical procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury. Regulated activities are provided at one clinic location: The London Cosmetic Clinic, 3rd Floor 168 Brompton Road, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 1HW.
The registered manager is the medical director and founder 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 clinic is housed on the third floor in leased premises in Knightsbridge. Access is via a commercial property on the ground floor. The clinic is accessed via stairs. There is a client waiting area, shared administrative office and kitchen, two treatment rooms on the third floor and one treatment room on the second floor. Staff and patient toilet facilities are on the second floor. The clinic is open between 9am and 7.30pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 4.30pm on Saturday. The clinic is closed on bank holidays and Sundays. Out of hours, the medical director oversees the service email account for urgent queries and there is a 24 hour answering service for messages.
Regulated activities are provided for clients over 18. Regulated services offered at the clinic include:
Consultations and treatment for dermatological conditions including acne and rosacea; prescription skincare; minor surgical procedures including scar excisions, ear lobe repair and mole excisions; hay fever treatments and Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy. The clinic sees approximately 50 clients per month who receive regulated activities which is about 40% of the total services provided by the clinic.
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:
- Superficial mole and skin tag removal
- Dissolution of fat deposits
- Medical Micro-pigmentation
- Semi-permanent make up
- Facelifts
- Pulsed light and laser treatments
- Laser and pulsed light thread vein removal
- Hair removal
- Skin rejuvenation
- Cosmetic injectable
There are ten staff associated with the clinic. Services are provided by the medical director who is full time and two part time doctors who also work in the NHS and have a special interest in aesthetics. The doctors are supported by a doctor’s assistant. Administrative support is provided by a patient services co-ordinator, three administrative staff and a clinic manager. The service also employs a laser technician.
How we inspected the service:
Our inspection team was led by a CQC Lead Inspector and included a GP Specialist Advisor.
Before visiting, we reviewed a range of information we hold about the service and contacted local stakeholders, however we did not receive any information of concern from them.
During our visit we:
- Spoke with one doctor who was the director of the service and the registered manager.
- Spoke with two non-clinical staff members including the manager 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 six patient records.
- Made observations of the environment specifically the reception area, the waiting area, the doctors’ room, toilets and the office.
- Reviewed feedback from 19 clients including CQC comment cards.
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.