Sapphire Clinics (London) Limited Also known as Curaleaf Clinic

On this page

• Overview
• Assessing needs
• Delivering evidence-based care and treatment
• How staff, teams and services work together
• Supporting people to live healthier lives
• Monitoring and improving outcomes
• Consent to care and treatment

We rated the service as good for providing an Effective service. We assessed 3 quality statements for the effective key question, namely assessing needs, delivering evidence-based care and treatment, and monitoring and improving outcomes. The provider carried out a comprehensive assessment of people needs prior to accepting into the clinic and delivered care in line with relevant and current evidence-based guidance and standards. They carried out their own research and studies to monitor outcomes in relation to this area of medicine.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

We did not speak directly with patients, however we noted that the clinic carried out an internal patient survey and the most recent results suggested that 91% of patients felt their clinician was good or very good at assessing their condition. We also noted that the clinic had positive feedback on social media platforms in relation to assessing needs. Patients felt they were fully involved in their assessments and reviews and the clinician’s communication was good.

Leaders told us their healthcare professionals conducted thorough assessments that considered not only the patient's medical history but also their lifestyle, social support, and personal values. They said their care plans, whilst based upon robust clinical guidance on initiation, require the input of the patient to identify the product formulation and dose which provides the maximum benefit, whilst limiting adverse events.

The clinic had to receive a summary care record from a patient’s GP before they could be considered for the service. Patients who enrolled in the clinic’s research study had comprehensive assessments that evaluated the health status of individuals across five domains, including mobility, pain, anxiety and depression, as well as the ability to conduct self-care and usual activities. This was then tracked throughout treatment.

Cannabis-based products for medicinal use (CBPMs) were legalised in the UK on 1 November 2018, but the regulations around their use and supply remain strict. The leaders told us they assessed needs and delivered care in line with relevant and current evidence-based guidance and standards. The leaders told us evidence-based practice is at the core of the patient’s care, treatment, and support services. This ensures that they receive the most effective and up-to-date care available, aligned with the latest medical research and good practice standards. The leaders said all measures of clinical governance were in line with the latest national and international guidance.

The clinic has set up the UK Medical Cannabis Registry to study the real-world evidence of outcomes of medical cannabis prescribing. This allows the clinic not only to report on outcomes, but also to seek to understand which patient and product-specific factors are associated with positive and negative outcomes, to help inform clinical practice.

We did not look at How staff, teams and services work together during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at Supporting people to live healthier lives during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

Leaders told us they have published 24 peer reviewed studies using data from the UK medical Cannabis registry, which all demonstrate an improvement in general health-related quality of life, anxiety and sleep quality. They said that these demonstrate that cannabis-based medicinal products are largely well-tolerated. Most adverse events are self-limiting, and the incidence of adverse events is highest when initiating medical cannabis and continues to decrease over time. For condition-specific studies, these also show improvements in outcomes such as pain severity and interference on daily living, depression, and PTSD symptoms. Staff also told us in studies related to chronic pain they have seen simultaneous reductions in prescribed opiates used by patients.

Patients were seen at the first appointment, then four weeks after starting treatment, and then if stable they can have a review every three months and some patients had e-consultations every six months. All patients were now also seen by their initiating consultant yearly (every 12 months or on their 5th appointment from initiation of CBMPs). In addition to this the clinic has implemented a product evaluation framework, where up to 200 patients prescribed a cannabis-based medicinal product were enrolled in a short-term 6–8 week evaluation of the quality and consistency of the product. This allows them to inform their own clinical practice, but also inform pharmacies and manufacturers which groups of products are associated with better quality and improved outcomes.

We did not look at Consent to care and treatment during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.