Astute Courses

Updated 2 August 2022

The provider, Astute Courses Ltd is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide the regulated activities of treatment of disease, disorder, or injury (TDDI), and surgical procedures from two registered locations, including Astute Courses, 104 Derby Road Long Eaton, Nottingham, NG10 4LS. Only this site was visited as part of this inspection.

Astute Courses is a clinical training centre as well as offering clients treatments. The models for training purposes are selected by the registered manager/lead clinician. Trainees are supervised throughout procedures.

The service is located in a large detached commercial building. Clinical rooms are located on the ground and first floor. On the ground floor there is a large waiting area and the reception. Security entry is with access by reception staff only. There is a separate kitchen for staff and a shower room and toilets including wheelchair access on ground floor. There is also an on site lecture theatre for delegates undertaking theory modules.

The four clinical rooms where treatments are undertaken are large, spacious, clean and provide suitable equipment. There is clinical grade flooring with no skirting board and a handwashing sink in each room. Suitable patient couches are sited in each room.

The service is provided by two registered practitioners. Astute Courses offers clients a range of services including treatment for excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis), PDO surgical thread lifts and removal of moles and skin tags. Treatments are provided for adults aged 18 and over with appropriate consent. These services are available on a pre-bookable appointment basis and dependent on the dates of the training courses. Clients attend for an initial consultation, where a treatment plan is discussed and agreed, and then booked in for treatment for a later date. The service is open Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm and one Saturday a month.

Before visiting we reviewed a range of information we hold about the service and information which was provided by the service before the inspection.

How we inspected this service

During the inspection:

• we spoke with one clinician (who was the Registered Manager) and the site manager.
• reviewed key documents which support the governance and delivery of the service.
• made observations about the areas the service was delivered from.
• looked at information the service used to deliver care and treatment plans.

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?

Due to assurances we received from our review of information, we only looked at the safe domain during the inspection.

Updated 2 August 2022

We carried out an announced focused inspection at Astute Courses on 8 July 2022. Following our review of the information available to us, including information provided by the practice, we focused our inspection on the following key question: safe. Due to assurances we received from our review of information, we carried forward the ratings for the following key questions: effective, caring, responsive and well-led from our last inspection in January 2022. Overall, the service is rated as good. It is rated as good in safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

Following our previous inspection on 14 January 2022, the practice was rated good overall and requires improvement for the key question safe. It was rated good for key questions effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Astute Courses on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

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. Astute Courses provides a range of non-surgical cosmetic interventions which are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services. Astute Courses is registered in respect of the provision of the treatment of disease, disorder or injury and surgical procedures; therefore we were only able to inspect treatments relating to medical conditions which include treatment for excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis), PDO surgical thread lifts (a type on non-surgical face lift) and surgical removal of minor skin lesions.

Dr Vorodykhina 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 service was offered on a private, fee paying basis only and was accessible to clients who chose to use it. Clients were able to access care and treatment from the clinic within an appropriate timescale for their needs.
• The service had good facilities and was well equipped to treat clients and meet their needs.
• Systems, processes and records had been established to seek consent and to offer coordinated and person-centred care.
• The clinicians maintained the necessary skills and competence to support clients’ needs.
• The provider and staff team demonstrated a positive culture and a commitment to the delivery of person-centred care and treatment.
• The provider had made improvements to the recruitment procedures and had completed risk assessments to ensure the safety of the premises and health and safety of clients and staff.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Advise the contract cleaner to date and sign the cleaning schedules on completion.
• Provide copies of the control of substances hazardous to health (COSHH) risk assessment and data sheets on site for staff to reference.
• Display the fire procedure in appropriate areas throughout the building.

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