- Independent hospital
Athena Surgical Centre
Report from 11 July 2024 assessment
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment 10 September 2024. Athena Surgical Centre first opened in July 2023. The hospital operated from a stand-alone unit which was newly built in 2023. The facility included 3 theatres and 3 multi-purpose clinical consultation rooms. Since our last assessment, all of the provider’s contracts with external NHS providers for the provision of patient care had ended. The provider was therefore only carrying out surgery on privately funded patients. The service had operated on 11 patients from the start of August to the end of September 2024. The procedures undertaken by the service were mainly Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) procedures, which were undertaken as day cases. We carried out this assessment to determine whether improvements had been made against the requirements of the Section 29 warning notice which was issued during our last assessment in February 2024. We also reviewed concerns received from whistleblowers regarding the quality and safety of the service. We rated safe and well-led as requires improvement because: We remained concerned regarding the service’s learning culture, the management of risks to people across their care journey, and recruitment procedures. Policies, guidelines, and protocols did not always provide clear guidance for staff. The service did not always have effective governance structures and processes. Leaders had not always ensured that concerns identified during our last assessment had been fully addressed. However, leaders had made improvements to the service’s safeguarding, medicines management, and risk management policies and procedures since our last assessment. We found that the service had made improvements against the concerns included in the warning notice. However, the concerns identified during our September 2024 assessment resulted in a breach of 3 regulations, relating to safe care and treatment, fit and proper persons employed, and good governance.
People's experience of this service
People told us they felt safe and supported to understand and manage any risks. Patients had been provided with information about who to contact if they realised that things might be at risk of going wrong or their health condition may be worsening. Patients provided positive feedback about the cleanliness of the service and said that they were cared for in safe environments that were designed to meet their needs. People told us that they had observed staff washing their hands and using personal protective equipment when required. People told us they felt there were enough staff to meet their needs.