Beechwood Medical Ltd (T/A Freyja Medical)

Updated 11 August 2023

Beechwood Medical Ltd (Freyja Medical) constitutes a small chain of medical clinics (currently two clinics). It is operated by the provider Beechwood Medical Ltd and owned by two doctors, who are both retired from General Practice and work in dermatology as speciality doctors.

The location of Beechwood Medical Ltd (T/A Freyja Medical), The Yard, Villa Farm, Wrexham Road, Burland, Nantwich, CW5 8LR opened for non-regulated activities (minimally invasive aesthetic treatments) in September 2020 and subsequently registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide regulated medical services in December 2021.

The service offers general dermatology consultations and treatment, dermatological surgery and aesthetic treatments.

The service is regulated to provide services for individuals aged 18 and over.

The service operates from ground floor premises and all facilities are suitable for disabled persons, including WC and dedicated disabled parking.

The second location is situated in Wales and is regulated by the Health Inspectorate Wales (HIW). Therefore, we did not visit this site.

The service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care 2008 to provide the following Regulated Activities: Diagnostic and screening procedures, Surgical procedures and Treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

How we inspected this service

Before visiting we reviewed a range of information we hold about the service and asked the service to send us a range of information. This included significant events analysed in the last 12 months and the details of staff employed to include their qualifications and proof of registration with their professional bodies. As part of the inspection, we spoke to the registered manager, nominated individual, personal assistant to the directors, a member of clinic staff and reviewed a range of documents.

To get to the heart of patients' experiences of care and treatment, we 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 11 August 2023

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 Beechwood Medical Ltd (T/A Freyja Medical) as part of our inspection programme, and because they have not been inspected and rated since registration in 2021.

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. Beechwood Medical Ltd (T/A Freyja Medical) provides a range of non-surgical cosmetic interventions, which are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect nor report on these services.

One of the providers 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:

• Patients received care that was delivered safely and effectively.
• Clinicians assessed patients according to appropriate guidance, legislation and standards and delivered care and treatment in line with current evidence-based guidance.
• There were enough staff who were suitably qualified and trained.
• Patients were treated with respect and staff were kind, caring and involved them in decisions about their care.
• Patients received detailed and clear information about their proposed treatment which enabled them to make an informed decision. This included costs, risks and benefits of treatment.
• Pre-operative and post-operative care and advice was clear.
• Patients were offered appointments and treatment in a timely manner to suit their needs.
• The service had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• There was an effective governance framework in place in order to gain feedback and to assess, monitor and improve the quality of the services provided.
• The provider was aware of the requirements of the Duty of Candour.

The area where the provider should make improvement is:

• Implement a comprehensive infection prevention and control (IPC) audit tool and regularly carry out full IPC audits.

Dr Sean O'Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

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