Ouronyx

This service is rated as Good overall.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Requires improvement

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 Ouronyx on 11 November 2022 as part of our inspection programme.

The service offered hair treatments and medical botox for hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating).

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. Ouronyx provides a range of non-surgical cosmetic interventions, for example, botox and fillers which are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services.

The medical operations 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.

For reasons of safety and infection prevention and control related to the COVID-19 pandemic, we did not commission patient feedback with CQC comment cards. We spoke to two patients during this inspection and received positive feedback.

Our key findings were:

• Recruitment checks were not always carried out in accordance with regulations including Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.
• Risks to patients were managed well in most areas, with the exception of issues related to some emergency medicines and the calibration of medical equipment.
• Consultations were comprehensive and undertaken in a professional manner.
• Consent procedures were in place and these were in line with legal requirements.
• There was an infection prevention and control policy and procedures were in place to reduce the risk and spread of infection.
• Staff members were knowledgeable and had the experience and skills required to carry out their roles.
• Clinical records were detailed and held securely.
• The service held regular clinical governance meetings and minutes were maintained.
• The service had systems to manage and learn from incidents.
• Patients were able to access care and treatment in a timely manner.

The areas where the provider must make improvements as they are in breach of regulations are:

• Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.
• Ensure recruitment procedures are established and operated effectively to ensure only fit and proper persons are employed.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Implement a formal process to peer review the performance of the doctor.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services