Why we are regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC)
Botastic Medispa were thrilled to become a Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulated clinic in November 2019.
Being independently regulated was a decision we took ourselves and reflects the complete confidence we have in our team, services, experience, treatments and customer care.
It is important to stress that we applied to be regulated by the CQC - the independent regulator of health and social care in England – even though there is currently no legal requirement to be inspected.
We feel it sends out an important message to those clients wanting to receive the highest level of gold standard care, which is sadly lacking in the wider Aesthetics market.
We believe our customers will feel reassured by being able to see the independent findings of the CQC, especially in an industry where, sadly, many people carry out work they simply don’t have the experience, expertise or facilities required.
The CQC monitors and inspects all registered services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety.
They primarily consider whether services are safe and protect people from harm, whether they are effective and achieve good outcomes, if they are caring and treat people with kindness, whether they are responsive and how well they are led as organisations.
Full consent and safe treatments a priority
Fundamental standards demanded by the CQC include providing ‘person-centred care’ and ensuring full consent before any treatment is provided.
Inspectors look to ensure safe treatments are always provided and that systems are in place to allow people to complain if they are unhappy.
Crucially, the CQC demands that organisations have ‘fit and proper’ staff and must only employ people who can provide care and treatment appropriate to their roles.
It carries out regular inspections and provides a breakdown of how organisations are performing in the key areas outlined above, with overall ratings published, ranging from outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate.
Crucially, for transparency, CQC ratings must be displayed in a place where people can see it at the organisation’s premises.
They must also be included on the organisation’s website, with the latest inspection report and findings also made available.
Action taken against clinics for unsafe practices
Evidence of the CQC becoming more focussed on cosmetic and aesthetics clinics was evident in October 2019, when it warned of "emerging concerns" relating to independent cosmetic surgery clinics.
This led to action being taken against 12 different providers.
Issues included staff without the appropriate training, qualifications, and competencies for their role, unsafe sedation and anaesthetics practices and not following infection prevention and control standards.
By choosing to become CQC regulated, we have ensured Botastic MediSpa is under then same scrutiny as hospitals and GP surgeries for management, safety, treatments and procedures carried out.
It means we are also now permitted to carry out PDO thread procedures, which are considered to be the most effective facelift without going under the knife, which are already regulated under CQC guidelines.
We expect this industry to become much more tightly regulated in the near future, but until that happens, by taking these steps we have ensured our standards will be continually and independently assessed.
Importantly the findings will be publicly available and we look forward to sharing the results of our first inspection with you when they are published.
