Archived: Weightmedics - Uxbridge

Updated 11 August 2021

Weightmedics is a slimming clinic located in Uxbridge, North West London. It is part of the Weightmedics chain of clinics. There are a total of four registered locations. Three locations have been previously inspected and rated. The previous inspection report for this location was reviewed in preparation for this inspection.

The clinic is located on the second floor of a building which hosts another service. There is no step-free access. There is a reception / waiting area as well as a consulting room. It is a short walk from Uxbridge underground station and local bus stops. There is a car park close to the clinic.

Weightmedics is open for face to face consultations on Mondays, Thursday and Saturdays. People can also access video consultations with a doctor or a patient care manager seven days a week. The clinic is staffed by a receptionist, and a doctor. A patient care manager and a nutritionist can work remotely or from a clinic office to see patients via video link. Staff based at other locations can also cover shifts at this clinic. If for any reason a shift is not filled by one of the regular doctors, there are a number of locum doctors familiar with the clinic that can be contacted. In addition, staff work closely with other staff based at the other locations.

How we inspected this service

We gathered a number of documents from the registered manager prior to our site visit and reviewed them for this inspection. During this inspection, we interviewed staff, made observations and reviewed additional 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 11 August 2021

This service is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection 02 2020 – rated 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 Weightmedics under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act (HSCA) 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This was part of our inspection programme to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and to rate the service.

Weightmedics provides weight loss services, including prescribing medicines and dietary advice to support weight reduction. The Nurse Director 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:

• The provider had implemented additional infection control measures in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
• The service organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs and took account of patient needs and preferences.
• The service took complaints and concerns seriously and responded them appropriately to improve the quality of care.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Only supply unlicensed medicines against valid special clinical needs of an individual patient where there is no suitable licensed medicine available.
• Make a clear record of the rationale when a different approach to national guidance is taken in order to protect patient safety.
• Review the system for sharing treatment plans with patient’s own GPs to ensure they are sent consistently.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care