New Start Slimming Clinic

Updated 25 January 2022

The provider was registered by CQC on 7 August 2020 in respect of the regulated activity of Services in slimming clinics. However, due to COVID-19 the service was not always operating from the time of registration, in line with government guidelines.

New Start Slimming Clinic is an independent slimming clinic located on a high street in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The reception and waiting area are situated on the ground floor and there is one consulting room located on the lower ground floor, which is accessed via stairs only. The clinic can be reached by public transport, and there is paid parking available close to the clinic.

The weight loss service, including the prescribing of medicines for the purposes of weight loss, are provided under the supervision of a clinician. All consultations are carried out face to face with a clinician. There were three regular locum clinicians (two male and one female), the service manager and one administration staff. The service is available to adults aged 18 and over. The clinic is open on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday between 9.30am and 1.30pm and alternate Saturdays between 10am and 2pm. The clinic is closed on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays.

How we inspected this service

During the inspection we spoke to the service manager, clinical and reception staff, and reviewed a range of documents.

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 25 January 2022

This service is rated as Good overall. (As a new service, not previously inspected).

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 our first announced comprehensive inspection at New Start Slimming Clinic as part of our inspection programme following the registration of a new service.

New Start Slimming Clinic is located in Bradford, West Yorkshire. It provides a face to face weight loss service with a clinician, including the prescribing of medicines for the purposes of weight reduction.

The service manager 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.

Our key findings were:

• There was an effective system to manage infection prevention and control and additional measures were put in place due to COVID-19 to keep people safe.
• Processes were in place for checking medicines and staff kept accurate records of medicines.
• Feedback from patients who completed the service’s own patient survey, was positive about the way staff treated people.
• Patients received person-centred and holistic care and were advised not to rely on medicines alone.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• The service should record the discussion and decision to prescribe an unlicensed medicines where alternative licensed medicines are available
• Carry out quality improvement activities to demonstrate positive clinical outcomes for patients.
• Review how records are made to ensure consistent delivery of safe care and treatment to patients.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Car