A damning report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found that Doncaster-based Elements Medical was inadequate in every area it inspected in October, concluding it was “not safe”, “not effective” and “not well led”.
The clinic, which also operates online as The Virtual Slimming Clinic, offers services including weight management, pre and postoperative care for cosmetic and bariatric surgery, treatments for skin conditions including acne, and vitamin injections, the CQC said on Friday.
Among the long list of concerns, the report said: “We saw that people were covertly filmed at the premises including while receiving treatment, without their knowledge or consent.
“In addition, the provider told us that the closed-circuit television monitoring (CCTV) was monitored and managed by a third-party provider which posed a safeguarding risk.”
The inspectors said they found a large quantity of the muscular injection Dysport in a fridge which was turned off during clinic times because it was noisy.
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The report said: “Staff told us this medicine had been imported from Turkey, and we found labels on the medicine were not in English, however, the provider did not have a licence to import any medicines to England.
“Turkey is also not an approved country for the purposes of supplying medicines for use in England by the Medicines Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).”
The report continued: “We also found the provider was using this injection in place of Botox, however, people using the service had not been informed of this.
“We saw evidence that vials which were meant for single use only were being shared between multiple patients, which posed a significant infection risk.”
The inspectors also said that the firm bought the dilutant Bacteriostatic sodium chloride 0.9% from a website, which said: “All products listed on this website are for research purposes only, we do not advocate or advise human use, and any such use is entirely at your own risk.”
They pointed to a series of other safety concerns, including obstructed fire exits, “lit candles in clinic and waiting rooms which were unattended for significant periods of time”, unsafely stored oxygen, and a defibrillator with no pads which left it “not usable in the event of an emergency”.
A cosmetic and weight loss clinic that secretly filmed patients is “not safe”, the health watchdog has found as it put the provider in special measures to protect the public.
A damning report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found that Doncaster-based Elements Medical was inadequate in every area it inspected in October, concluding it was “not safe”, “not effective” and “not well led”.
The clinic, which also operates online as The Virtual Slimming Clinic, offers services including weight management, pre and postoperative care for cosmetic and bariatric surgery, treatments for skin conditions including acne, and vitamin injections, the CQC said on Friday.
Among the long list of concerns, the report said: “We saw that people were covertly filmed at the premises including while receiving treatment, without their knowledge or consent.
“In addition, the provider told us that the closed-circuit television monitoring (CCTV) was monitored and managed by a third-party provider which posed a safeguarding risk.”
The inspectors said they found a large quantity of the muscular injection Dysport in a fridge which was turned off during clinic times because it was noisy.
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A year-long investigation into the ‘wild west’ of unregulated cosmetic surgery
The report said: “Staff told us this medicine had been imported from Turkey, and we found labels on the medicine were not in English, however, the provider did not have a licence to import any medicines to England.
“Turkey is also not an approved country for the purposes of supplying medicines for use in England by the Medicines Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).”
The report continued: “We also found the provider was using this injection in place of Botox, however, people using the service had not been informed of this.
“We saw evidence that vials which were meant for single use only were being shared between multiple patients, which posed a significant infection risk.”
The inspectors also said that the firm bought the dilutant Bacteriostatic sodium chloride 0.9% from a website, which said: “All products listed on this website are for research purposes only, we do not advocate or advise human use, and any such use is entirely at your own risk.”
They pointed to a series of other safety concerns, including obstructed fire exits, “lit candles in clinic and waiting rooms which were unattended for significant periods of time”, unsafely stored oxygen, and a defibrillator with no pads which left it “not usable in the event of an emergency”.
