EOS Medical Aesthetics

Updated 6 June 2023

EOS Medical Aesthetics is the registered location for the provider, EOS Medical Aesthetics Limited and had been registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in 2021. The service provides a small range of treatments for people aged over 18 that come under scope of regulation of CQC. These treatments are given via pre-bookable appointments. Patients attend an initial consultation, where a treatment plan is discussed and agreed, and then they are booked in for treatment at a later date. Only specific treatments are regulated by CQC, and they include vitamin b12 injections, treatment for excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis) and non-surgical treatment for a range of skin conditions, including acne and rosacea.

Treatments are provided from:

• EOS Medical Aesthetics, 1b Coworth Road, Sunningdale, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 0NX (referred to as the clinic).

And

• EOS Medical Aesthetics at The Gecko Clinic, Home Farm Industrial Estate, Yattendon, Berkshire RG18 0XT

The clinic website is: www.eosaesthetics.co.uk

The clinic is located in a renovated retail property and comprises of 4 treatment rooms, a staff room and 2 reception areas. The clinic is open every weekday with core opening hours of 9am to 6pm. In addition to the core opening hours, appointments outside of the core opening hours, including weekend appointments could be arranged. This service is not required to offer an out of hours service. Patients who need medical assistance out of operating hours can access out of hours support via the service and this is detailed in patient literature supplied by the service.

Regulated activities (treatments regulated by CQC) are provided by a single clinician who is an Advanced Nurse Practitioner, the Clinical Director and founder of the service. They are supported by a senior aesthetician, and both undertake the day-to-day management and running of the service.

How we inspected this service

We carried out this inspection on 25 May 2023. Before visiting the location, we looked at a range of information that we hold about the service. This included 5 items of patient feedback shared directly with CQC via the ‘Give Feedback on your Care’ functionality via our website. During our inspection, we visited the main clinic in Sunningdale, Ascot and we interviewed staff, reviewed documents and clinical records, and made observations relating to the service and the location it was delivered from. We were shown examples of patient feedback which the provider had collected prior to the inspection. We did not speak to patients on the day of the site visit.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following 5 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 6 June 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 EOS Medical Aesthetics in Sunningdale, Ascot on 25 May 2023. The service was registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in April 2021. We carried out this first rated inspection as part of our regulatory functions. The inspection was undertaken to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

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.

EOS Medical Aesthetics provides a range of independent dermatology services, including non-surgical cosmetic interventions including anti-wrinkle injections, derma fillers and permanent cosmetics, which are not within CQC scope of registration. We did not inspect, or report on, those services that are outside the scope of registration.

EOS Medical Aesthetics is registered with the CQC to provide the following regulated activity:

• Treatment of disease, disorder or injury

Therefore, we only inspected the provision of vitamin b12 injections and treatments relating to medical conditions which include treatment for excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis) and non-surgical treatments for a range of skin conditions (acne and rosacea).

The service was founded in 2018 by an Advanced Nurse Practitioner with an extensive background in aesthetic medicine who is also the CQC registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the CQC 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 clinic had clear systems to keep people safe and safeguarded from abuse. They used recognised screening processes to identify patients who could be at risk of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) or dysmorphophobia, a preoccupation with an imagined defect in one’s physical appearance.

• Staff were highly skilled and kept up to date in their specialist field. They reviewed and monitored care and treatment to ensure these were effective.

• Feedback from patients was consistently positive. Patient feedback demonstrated the treatment had given the patient extra confidence due to an improved appearance.

• Services were tailored to meet the needs of individual fee-paying patients. Treatments were delivered in a flexible way that ensured choice and where appropriate, continuity of care.

• The clinic had a culture of high-quality care and put their patients first. Staff focused on the needs of their patients and aimed to deliver a bespoke, natural result and experience to each and every person, in turn, patient satisfaction from various sources was positive.

We saw an area of outstanding practice:

• There was a focus and dedication on continuous learning and improvement. For example, the clinician had recently completed additional studies in cosmetic medicine and had commenced a Doctorate degree. The field of research for the Doctorate degree explored the impact of neurotoxin on mood in peri menopausal women and linked closely to the service provided at the clinic. Furthermore, there was a willingness to try new ideas for the benefit of patients and the aesthetic sector. Relevant results were shared widely, for example, through research meetings and publications, including a published review of the use of telemedicine within aesthetic medicine. There was also a record of sharing work locally, nationally and internationally. This included presenting at the Aesthetic and Anti-Ageing Medicine World Congress (AWMC) in Monaco 2022 and at an educational conference at the Royal College of Physicians in April 2023.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Healthcare