Archived: MASTA Travel Clinic - Richmond

Updated 18 December 2019

MASTA (Medical Advisory Service for Travellers Abroad) Travel Clinic – Richmond is one of a number of travel clinics run by MASTA Limited and provides travel health services including vaccinations, medicines and advice on travel related issues to both adults and children travelling for business or leisure. The service is a designated yellow fever vaccination centre.

Services are available to any fee-paying patient. Pre-booked appointments are available and a walk-in service is also provided.

The service is based in a Flight Centre travel agent premises in the main high street of Richmond, South West London. The service operates from a single consultation room, with chairs outside the room for patients to sit whilst waiting for their consultation.

The service staff consists of one nurse who is the service’s registered manager. The nurse is responsible for all clinical and administrative functions at the site. Direct support and managerial oversight is provided by a MASTA Limited regional manager, and there is an existing corporate management and governance structure.

The service has been open for four days per week since October 2019. Prior to this, the service was open for two days a week. Services are available at the following times:

• Tuesdays – 9.30am to 5.30pm;
• Wednesdays – 9.30am to 5.30pm;
• Thursdays – 10.00am to 6pm;
• Fridays – 10am to 6pm;
• One Saturday per month – 10am to 6pm (the service is closed on Friday these weeks).

The service is fully accessible for wheelchair users and is situated on the ground floor of the building. The service is situated approximately 100 metres from an overground rail and tube station, and approximately 150 metres from a paid car park.

The service website address is:  www.masta-travel-health.com

How we inspected this service

We reviewed information about the service in advance of our inspection visit. This included:

• Data and other information we held about the service.
• Information relating to other MASTA Limited locations, for example policies and governance.
• Material we requested and received directly from the service ahead of the inspection.
• Information available on the service’s website.
• Patient feedback and reviews accessible on various websites.

During the inspection visit we undertook a range of approaches. This included interviewing clinical and non-clinical staff, reviewing feedback from patients who had used the service, speaking with patients, reviewing documents, examining electronic systems, and assessing the building and equipment.

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 18 December 2019

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at MASTA (Medical Advisory Service for Travellers Abroad) Travel Clinic - Richmond on 26 November 2019 as part of our current inspection programme. We previously inspected this service on 9 October 2018 using our previous methodology, where we did not apply ratings.

MASTA Travel Clinic - Richmond provides travel health services to both adults and children travelling for business or leisure. The service is a designated yellow fever vaccination centre. Since October 2019 the service has also provided a yearly flu vaccination service.

The service also provides certain corporate healthcare services which are not regulated by CQC. 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 general exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of service and these are set out in Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. MASTA Travel Clinic – Richmond, services are provided to patients under arrangements made by their employer. These types of arrangements are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore, at this service, we were only able to inspect the services which are not arranged for patients by their employers.

Services are available to any fee-paying patient. All services incur a consultation charge, and treatment and intervention charges vary, depending on the service provided. Information from the service indicates that, at the time of the inspection, an average of eight patients per day are seen.

The lead nurse based at the site 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.

We received 13 completed CQC comment cards, all of which were fully positive about the service. Patients commented that the nurse at the service was caring, informative and respectful. Other comments stated the service was efficient, the environment was clean and comfortable, and that the nurse worked well with child patients.

Our key findings were:

• The service provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and a system in place for recording, reporting and learning from significant events and incidents. The service had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents happened, the service learned from them and reviewed their processes to implement improvements.
• There were clearly defined and embedded systems, processes and practices to keep people safe and safeguarded from abuse, and for identifying and mitigating risks of health and safety.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• The service organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. Patients said that they could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The service reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence-based guidelines and best practice.
• Patients told us that staff treated them with kindness and respect and that they felt involved in discussions about their options.
• Patient satisfaction with the service was high.
• Staff had the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• The service took complaints and concerns seriously and responded to them appropriately to improve the quality of care.

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