A Stirling-based medicinal cannabis clinic – the first in Scotland – has been rated as ‘good’ in its first inspection report.
Healthcare Improvement Scotland conducted the inspection at Sapphire Clinics (Central) Ltd, located in Allan Park, back in November.
In March last year, we told how Sapphire Medical Clinics was approved by Healthcare Improvement Scotland to provide safe access to medical cannabis to patients.
In their report, published this week, inspectors rated the firm’s ‘safe delivery of care’ and ‘leadership of improvement and change’ as ‘good’.
Under the ‘safe delivery of care’, inspectors said: ‘Processes were in place to ensure medicines were prescribed in line with current legislation and guidance. Appropriate safeguards were in place to minimise risks to patients. A range of policies and procedures helped the service to ensure care was delivered safely. The service’s medicines and prescribing policies should be updated to reflect its current practice. Action plans following audits should be produced.’
They added: ‘The service followed strict protocols for the prescribing of unlicensed cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs). Patients were only prescribed an unlicensed CBMP to treat an appropriate health condition if a referral was made by a hospital, GP or as a self-referral to a relevant specialist doctor on the General Medical Council’s (GMC) Specialist Register. We were told the majority of prescriptions were for chronic pain, neuropathic pain, generalised anxiety disorder and fibromyalgia (a condition that causes widespread pain and extreme tiredness).’
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They also noted that patients were required to provide photo identification when a consultation was requested.
The inspectors offered recommendations on areas of improvement, including ensuring that the medicines and prescribing policies are updated to detail; the process in place for the use of non-medical prescribers under a shared care protocol; and the process followed from the initial decision to prescribe through to the delivery of a CBMP supply to the patient, to include the generation of patient-specific paper prescriptions and their delivery either to a pharmacy or a patient.
The inspectors also noted that all relevant consultation and assessment information was clearly documented in the patient care record, and ongoing monitoring of patients was taking place.
Following publication of the report, Dr Mikael Sodergren, managing director and academic lead of Sapphire Medical, said: “The rating by HIS is testament to the hard work and commitment of our staff, which was highlighted in the report. Our patients often view us as their last hope in treating and managing a range of chronic conditions and the care we provide is always about working with patients to find an outcome that best suits them, ensuring they feel comfortable every step of the way.”
