For independent healthcare providers in Northern Ireland
RQIA compliance software for independent clinics, private doctors and laser services.
wai runs booking, clinical notes, patient messaging, payments and records for independent clinics and hospitals in Northern Ireland, and keeps those records as the evidence RQIA reads under its four domains. RQIA inspects every private doctor service and every cosmetic laser service at least once a year, against the 2005 Regulations and the Minimum Care Standards for Independent Healthcare Establishments.
03Is care compassionate?Service users are treated with dignity and respect and are fully involved in decisions affecting their treatment, care and support.3 indicators
C1 Dignity and respect, independence, rights, equality and diversity, choice and consent
C2 Service users listened to, valued and communicated with appropriately
C3 The views of service users sought and taken into account
04Is the service well led?Effective leadership, management and governance which creates a culture focused on the needs and experiences of service users.5 indicators
L1 Management and governance systems for the quality and safety of services
L2 Management and governance systems that drive quality improvement
L3 A clear organisational structure, with roles and accountability understood
L4 The service operated in accordance with the regulatory framework
L5 Effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders
Inspectors judge what they find against the 2005 Regulations and the Minimum Care Standards for Independent Healthcare Establishments, July 2014.2
01
People who use the service
Patients' views, and RQIA staff and patient questionnaires.
02
Management and staff
Conversations with the registered manager and staff on the day.
03
Care records
Clinical records, the patient register and records of consent.
04
Incidents and complaints
Incident records, statutory notifications to RQIA and the complaints register.
05
Policies and governance
Indexed policies, risk assessments, audits and registered provider monitoring reports.
06
Staff files
Recruitment records, AccessNI checks, training, appraisal and professional registration.
How RQIA reports its findings
RQIA does not award a rating. Its report lists any areas for improvement in a quality improvement plan, or says that none were identified.3
No areas for improvementNo quality improvement plan
Against a standardArea for improvement, Minimum Care Standards
Against a regulationArea for improvement, 2005 Regulations
EnforcementNotices or conditions for serious concerns
Annually
is the minimum frequency at which RQIA inspects every private doctor service.1
6 months
is the longest a registered provider not in day to day charge can go between unannounced monitoring visits, under Regulation 26.1
Second time
is how a report marks an area for improvement RQIA has stated before and found not yet met.4
Feedback on the outcome is given to the registered person or manager on the day of the inspection.
Each area for improvement names the regulation or standard it rests on.
At the next inspection, each area for improvement is assessed as met or not met.
The report is published on RQIA's website once agreed as factually accurate.
Which services register with RQIA
RQIA registers independent clinics, independent medical agencies and independent hospitals, and providers apply through its web portal.5
Category
Includes
Inspected
Independent clinic
Private doctor services
At least once a year
Independent hospital
Private dental practices, hospices, cosmetic laser and IPL services, refractive eye services and IVF
At least once a year for cosmetic laser and IPL services
What RQIA compliance software should run
wai runs the clinic's daily work, and the records it keeps are the evidence RQIA examines.
01
Appointments and booking
Online booking from your own website, every clinician's diary read from their calendar, reminders, rebooking after a missed visit and waitlist offers when a slot opens.
Online booking at any hour, with a reminder before the visit.
For the business
Fewer missed appointments, and cancelled slots offered to the waitlist.
On the record
Every booking, reminder and change, with a time and a name.
02
Billing and payments
Card payments into your own Stripe account, the cancellation policy shown at booking, invoices, statements and reconciliation, with an export for your accountant.
A clear price and policy before they commit, and an invoice in their app.
For the business
Payments reconciled against visits, with an export for your accountant.
On the record
The price and policy the patient saw before booking, which RQIA expects patient information to include.
03
AI scribe and clinical notes
The note, letters and referrals written from the consultation, cited to guidelines such as NICE, with the transcript beside the note, for the clinician to read, edit and sign.
The clinician's attention stays on them during the consultation.
For the business
Less time spent writing notes after clinic.
On the record
A contemporaneous note, signed, with the time, the signature and the source it cites.
04
Follow-ups and patient messaging
WhatsApp, email and calls in one thread per patient, replies drafted in the patient's own language for your team to approve, a response clock on every new enquiry, and recalls a clinician approves.
A reply in the language they wrote in, approved by your team.
For the business
More enquiries answered within the hour, when they are most likely to book.
On the record
The whole conversation on one record, with response times.
05
Referrals, consent and audit trails
Recording consent taken at booking, referrals written from the visit, patient flags for controlled drugs and safeguarding notes, and every read of a record logged against a named account.
For each domain, the records wai keeps, how you produce them, and what changes for patients and the business.
Is care safe?
Records show who saw and changed each patient's notes, and when.
Patient flags for controlled drugs and restricted safeguarding notes
Every read and change of a record logged against a named account
Named accounts and role-based access for every clinician and staff member
The sequence of events for an incident, taken from the audit trail
On request. Asked who accessed a record, show the audit trail for that patient, to the minute.
For patients
Their record seen only by the people caring for them.
For the business
Incidents reviewed from the record in minutes.
Is care effective?
Clinical records are written during the consultation and signed by the doctor.
Notes, letters and referrals written from the consultation, for the clinician to read, edit and sign
The treatment discussion, options and costs in the signed note
Letters to the patient's GP written from the visit
Results on the record as they arrive
On request. Open any consultation. The note, transcript, citations and signature appear together.
For patients
A doctor who looks at them during the consultation.
For the business
Hours of writing handed back to clinicians every week.
Is care compassionate?
Patients receive information and replies in their own language, and consent is recorded.
Replies drafted in the language the patient writes in, approved by a member of your team
Recording consent taken at booking, and the consent discussion in the signed note
Review requests after a visit, kept on the patient's thread
The price and cancellation policy shown before the patient books
On request. Open a patient's thread to show what they were told, in which language, and how quickly.
For patients
Information they understand, in their own language.
For the business
Reviews and referrals from patients who were looked after well.
Is the service well led?
The registered manager can see response times, activity and access for the service each week.
Takings, front desk, response and website reports
Every complaint on the patient's thread, with response times
Named accounts and roles, and every action taken under them
A clinic in Northern Ireland has its records hosted in the United Kingdom
On request. Asked how you review the quality of the service, show the reports the manager already reads.
For patients
A service that acts on what patients tell it.
For the business
Decisions made on numbers the team can check.
What patients and the business gain
Published research on response times, documentation and reminders, from studies outside Northern Ireland.
7x
An enquiry answered within the hour is nearly seven times as likely to become a real conversation.6
30%
Clinicians using an ambient scribe did 30% less work after hours.7
23%
Patients sent a notification before their visit were 23% more likely to attend.8
Where RQIA evidence lives in wai
What RQIA asks for, where it is kept, and how you produce it on the day.
Asked forWhere it livesHow it is produced
Clinical recordsThe patient record, beside the transcriptOpen the consultation. Note, transcript, citations, signature and time, together.
Informed consentThe booking and the noteThe recording notice the patient saw at booking, and the consent discussion in the note.
Treatment costs given to patientsBooking and the patient appThe price and cancellation policy shown before the patient booked.
ComplaintsThe patient's threadEvery message and complaint, with the replies and response times.
IncidentsThe record and its historyThe sequence of events from the audit trail, for your incident review and any notification.
ConfidentialityAccounts and rolesWho holds which role, and every read and change made under it.
Quality reviewReportsFront desk, response, takings and website reports, on the day they are asked for.
How to prepare for an RQIA inspection
A readiness checklist under RQIA's four domains.
01Registration
Your certificate of registration is displayed and matches the services you provide.
Your statement of purpose and patient guide are current.
RQIA has been told of any change to the registered manager or provider.
Last year's areas for improvement each have evidence that they are met.
02Safe and effective care
Each doctor's GMC registration, indemnity, appraisal and responsible officer on file.
Enhanced AccessNI checks for every member of staff before they started.
Clinical records complete, secure and audited, with an action plan from the audit.
A patient register kept in line with Schedule 3 of the 2005 Regulations.
03Compassionate care and leadership
A consent policy in line with GMC guidance, and consent recorded for each patient.
An annual patient satisfaction survey, with a summary report and action plan.
Complaints recorded with investigation, outcome and action taken.
Policies indexed and reviewed at least every three years.
Questions an RQIA inspector will ask
What an inspector asks, what to show, and where the answer is kept.
01Can I see your clinical records for a sample of patients?
What to show
Records that are complete, secure and kept in line with legislation and GMC guidance.
Where wai has it ready
Notes are written during the visit and signed with a time, and an amended note is signed again.
02How is informed consent obtained and recorded?
What to show
A consent policy, and consent recorded for each patient.
Where wai has it ready
Recording consent is taken at booking, and the consent discussion is in the signed note.
03How do patients know what treatment will cost?
What to show
Patient information that includes the cost of treatment.
Where wai has it ready
The price and cancellation policy are shown at booking, and invoices sit in the patient's app.
04How do you maintain confidentiality?
What to show
Roles, access controls and a record of who accessed what.
Where wai has it ready
Role-based access enforced in the database, and every read logged against a named account.
05How have complaints been handled since the last inspection?
What to show
A complaints record with each communication, investigation, outcome and action.
Where wai has it ready
Every complaint sits on the patient's thread with the replies and response times.
What an RQIA inspection puts on the public record
RQIA publishes every inspection report, lists enforcement action on its website, and inspects private doctor and cosmetic laser services every year.
Published
Every inspection report is made public on RQIA's website once agreed as factually accurate, with any quality improvement plan.1
Named
Services under failure to comply notices, improvement notices or conditions are listed on RQIA's enforcement activity page, with the date compliance is required.9
Every year
is the minimum inspection frequency for every private doctor service and every cosmetic laser or IPL service.10
Software your clinic already runs on, so the records RQIA examines are produced by the work itself. Look for one record behind booking, notes, messaging, payments and access, with contemporaneous notes and an audit trail. wai is built that way, to help you achieve an inspection with no areas for improvement.
Is there RQIA approved software?
The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority registers and inspects health and social care services in Northern Ireland. It does not approve, certify or endorse software, wai included, and software cannot earn a determination on a provider's behalf. wai keeps the records your team uses to show RQIA how care is delivered, and RQIA decides the determination.
Does RQIA rate independent clinics?
No. RQIA reports its findings under four domains. Any areas for improvement go into a quality improvement plan, and a report with none says the inspection resulted in no areas for improvement being identified.
What regulations apply to independent clinics in Northern Ireland?
The Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 and the Independent Health Care Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005, as amended. RQIA also takes into account the Department of Health's Minimum Care Standards for Independent Healthcare Establishments, July 2014.
Can RQIA take enforcement action?
Yes. Where RQIA finds non-compliance with regulations or standards it may take enforcement action, and its published enforcement activity includes failure to comply notices, improvement notices and conditions on registration.
Where does wai keep our records?
A clinic in Northern Ireland has its records hosted in the United Kingdom, encrypted, with a full audit log. We set this up with you before go-live.
See how an independent clinic in Northern Ireland runs on one system
Fifteen minutes on video, with your own diary, notes and inbox. Built to help you achieve an inspection with no areas for improvement. A clinic in Northern Ireland has its records hosted in the United Kingdom.
