Sapphire Clinics (London) Limited Also known as Curaleaf Clinic

On this page

• Overview
• Shared direction and culture
• Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders
• Freedom to speak up
• Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion
• Governance, management and sustainability
• Partnerships and communities
• Learning, improvement and innovation

We rated the service as good for providing a Responsive service. We assessed 1 quality statements for responsive, namely person centred care. The clinic had developed systems which enabled patients to book and request appointments via an electronic patient app. They could also send information to patients in accessible formats which included large print and braille. For patients who do not speak English fluently they could request an interpreter.

This service scored 89 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Leaders told us their five core values. They said this was integrated into every aspect of their work, from how they develop products to how they interact with patients and each other. Staff told us they felt the leaders had created an environment where these values shaped how they worked. They said they had been involved in developing the values, initially at an away day where staff from all areas of the clinic were represented, then the final proposals were summarised and communicated to the whole workforce during a full staff meeting where other staff were encouraged to give feedback. Leaders told us that the vision, values and strategy had also been developed in collaboration with external partners such as engagement with Government’s Department of Health and Social Care, which led to the development of an official operating protocol between Sapphire Clinic and NHS England for the management of children with treatment-resistant epilepsy in conjunction with the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer. Other external partners include Healthcare Professionals such as NHS clinicians, Police forces and engagement with industry as members of the Cannabis Industry Council Medical Cannabis Alliance, Cannabinoid Research and Development Group. Staff told us that all patients were encouraged to give feedback to the clinic on the values and strategy via a link in their clinic letters. In addition, they have conducted regular patient forums to gain feedback. Staff and leaders ensure any risks to delivering the strategy, including relevant local factors, are understood and have an action plan to address them. They monitor and review progress against delivery of the strategy and relevant local plans. Leaders said they are committed to supporting the effective delivery of the business strategy and have established robust processes to ensure that staff and leaders are equipped to identify, understand, and address any risks to the strategic objectives, including relevant local factors.

The clinic have a dedicated people section in the quarterly company-wide staff meetings, where they highlight employees who have been nominated for living the values. During these sessions, they celebrate five value champion winners for that quarter, showcasing their contributions and reinforcing their commitment to a value-centric culture. The clinic have also established a regular review cycle where leaders report on progress against their action plans. This included quarterly reviews/mid-year reviews and reports to ensure continuous monitoring. They communicated progress updates and any changes to action plans through their internal communications channels, including quarterly full staff meetings. Continuous monitoring was carried out by HR who conducted regular surveys and feedback sessions to gather insights from employees on the effectiveness of the strategy delivery and risk management efforts.

Leaders told us they were highly focused on modelling and developing the desired culture. They said their senior managers were all senior clinical staff in the NHS with experience of delivering clinical care, which puts patients at the heart of the service. The leadership team lead by example in demonstrating inclusive behaviours and developing excellence. The leadership team was diverse in gender, race, and background and all leaders had yearly appraisals and 6 monthly check-in with their line managers to set and monitor performance objectives. All staff transitioning into leadership roles had to attend formal management training. Leaders told us that they, along with HR, actively monitored for signs of a poor culture through regular employee feedback surveys, observations and absence trends that can indicate underlying issues. This proactive approach allowed the provider to identify potential issues early. Staff told us leaders had a deep understanding of the challenges and were knowledgeable about issues relating to CBPM clinics. Leaders told us they were clear about how to improve the quality of the service. The registered manager was identified in the Cannabis Scientist Power List 2022 as an inspirational mentor and another consultant was nominated as an Industry Rising Star in the Business of Cannabis Awards.

The provider had engaged an external Leadership coach to provide internal training for their leaders on topics such as leading self, leading others and leading the business. This covered how they recognise and addressed cultural issues, ensuring they are equipped to support their teams effectively. This training was also available for managers and supervisors. Further training that was provided by the HR department included conflict resolution, mediation and coaching for leaders and employees.

Leaders told us their management team actively encouraged dialogue and created safe spaces for open communication. This was achieved through regular team meetings, one-on-one check-ins, and an open-door policy that invited employees to voice their thoughts freely. We saw evidence they conducted regular staff surveys and hosted workshops on new initiatives, processes and changes to gather input on various aspects of the workplace, ensuring that everyone had a chance to be heard. We were told they also held full staff meetings and informational sessions to discuss significant decisions and changes within the organisation, allowing employees to ask questions and provide input. They also included updates within the monthly newsletter or in separate company-wide emails.

The clinic had a ‘Speak Up’ platform that allowed staff to anonymously report any unethical or inappropriate behaviour. This ensures that all employees can voice their concerns without fear of retribution. Staff said they were also able to raise issues with their team managers or any manager within the clinic. The provider had a whistleblowing policy in place that all staff were made aware of when they started work.

Leaders and staff told us they celebrated the diverse backgrounds of their employees by hosting cultural events and awareness initiatives throughout the year, including Black History Month, Pride Month, and International Women's Day. Leaders told us they held a sponsorship license, enabling them to recruit a diverse mix of skills and talents from around the world. They said this sponsorship capability enhanced their workforce diversity and ensured that they could recruit the best talent regardless of their geographic location. This approach has allowed them to fill critical skill gaps and enrich their team with varied perspectives, further promoting an inclusive and innovative workplace culture. HR provided all new managers responsible for recruitment with training on ethical recruiting practices.

The clinic had flexible working policies to accommodate diverse needs, allowing employees to balance work with personal responsibilities. This included options for remote work, flexible hours, part-time schedules and condensed days. Policies and work practices were proactively reviewed and adjusted to ensure equality, diversity and inclusion across the workforce. The Recruitment policy reflected that all candidates should be reviewed and selected fairly, on merit and without bias.

Interviews with staff and leaders demonstrated that there were clear governance arrangements that supported staff to deliver good quality care. Staff we spoke with were clear about their roles and responsibilities. Staff also told us they would give feedback, raise suggestions, and concerns when required. They said internal staff surveys were acted on and used to make improvements to the service. Leaders told us they had a systematic clinical governance framework which was overseen by a dedicated member of staff.

Digital services were used securely and effectively within the service. We were told all data was held in a secure cloud-based server which had an internal audit function. The clinic regularly engaged third parties to conduct independent reviews of the effectiveness of the organisation’s approach to managing information security. Staff were provided with guidance on how to maintain IT security when working from home. The provider risk assessed the security of home working for individuals prior to agreeing this. Data backups were taken on a weekly basis to ensure there were working backups of the data. These were stored on a separate server and routinely tested to ensure that data and information could be restored.

We saw numerous examples of collaborations between the service and other agencies. We were told that the service has had continuous dialogue with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) since it was set up. This had been predominantly through the unit under the Deputy Director responsible for policy in relation to cannabis-based medicinal products. The leaders told us through this work they have helped to inform government decision making by presenting data from the 40 peer reviewed publications from the clinic. The dialogue around the management of children with treatment-resistant epilepsy, led to the development of an operating protocol between the Clinic and NHS England for the follow-up. The clinic had also worked with researchers at Imperial College London and the University of West Scotland to research the perceived stigma associated with medical cannabis – this has been published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. The clinic has also partnered with a mental health charity to allow new and existing clinic patients to access four sessions of free therapy. We noted since January 2022, they have referred 194 patients to the service at no cost to the patient. The clinic also had some engagement with Police Forces. For example in response to reports from patients having interactions with police officers who were unaware that medical cannabis could be legally prescribed in the UK, they carried out a nationally representative survey of 200 police officers. As a result, they have written to the National Police Chiefs Council to inform the National Portfolio lead for Drugs and their team of the findings. The clinic have also worked with individual forces to provide education to their officers.

The clinic worked in partnership with key organisations to support care provision, service development and joined-up care. For example, for patients who were under the care of mental health trusts, the clinic not only communicated their decision to prescribe to the patient’s GP, they also contacted their named psychiatrist to ensure they did not have any objections to the patient being prescribed medical cannabis. The clinic conducted regular patient forums to gain feedback on clinic services and treatment and product evaluations to get specific feedback on the medications they were prescribed. The clinic have also partnered with a charity who provided funding for patients who were unable to access the medication due to financial barriers.

Staff and leaders actively sought feedback from patients, colleagues, and through data analysis to identify areas where the clinic's processes, services, or outcomes could improve. Once areas for improvement were identified, the clinic developed potential solutions, drawing on best practices and evidence-based approaches. The clinic used a range of tools including patient surveys, forums, and direct communication to ensure they got a broad and representative assessment of patient feedback which was used to evaluate improvement and contribute to new initiatives. They created Help Centre articles to support patients to discuss their treatment with others around them: such as ‘talking to your employer, friends and family about medical cannabis’. We noted that in the clinic’s latest staff engagement survey for the area of Innovation - 71% of their employees felt they were actively encouraged to be innovative even though some of their initiatives may not succeed; and 71% of staff said they felt the clinic is a great company for them to develop their skills. Continuous training was provided for staff with mandatory courses and any additional courses which were deemed beneficial for specific roles, for example mental health risk training for pharmacists. The clinic regularly conducted analyses using the UK Medical Cannabis Registry to benchmark itself against best practices in the industry. The clinic set up the UK Medical Cannabis Registry which has studied the real-world evidence of medical cannabis prescribing in the population and have published a number of articles in relation to their findings. This research has won a total of 5 awards from the Japanese Society of Neuropsychopharmacology, as well as Neuropsychopharmacology Reports. The clinic has published a total of 40 academic publications. In addition, they have given a number of presentations at both national and international and conferences. They also won four awards for research and Education Excellence.

There were processes in place to ensure that learning happened when things went wrong, and best practice guidance was sought and shared. A standardised incident reporting system was in place, encouraging staff to report any errors or near misses without fear of blame. The leaders told us these reports provided valuable data for analysis, as specific action plans were developed to prevent similar incidents from happening again. The clinic had a clinical governance framework with an associated audit plan. This clinical governance framework was overseen by a dedicated member of staff who conducted fortnightly meetings to ensure compliance with all the components including audits and HR reporting. All staff completed personal development plans on an annual basis. These were reviewed mid-way through the year to assess progress towards goals. Staff were provided financial incentives towards meeting goals on the personal development plan. Staff could also be nominated for a development award to the value of £500 that could be used to support any additional training or career development opportunities.