Updated 4 May 2022
The provider was registered by CQC on 20 May 2021 in respect of the regulated activities Treatment of disease, disorder or injury and Maternity and midwifery services.
At the time of registration, the provider operated from offices at 300 St. John Street, London EC1V 4PA. However, it has now moved to a fully remote working model for all staff – clinicians, management and administrative officers and technicians. The location remains the provider’s registered office address and it retains access to meeting facilities there.
The provider operates an online consultation and advice service (the service) known as Pando Access. Using the system, people can engage in a secure text exchange with a clinician to discuss and receive advice relating to women’s healthcare and maternity / midwifery support throughout a pregnancy and up to six weeks postnatally. The service had previously included providing advice on health issues relating to children aged under-16 years, but at the date of this inspection the paediatric element of the service was suspended temporarily, due to commercial reasons. The provider told us this would be reinstated in due course and there were further plans to extend the scope of service to include teledermatology and men’s health.
The service operates between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm Monday to Friday. Access to the service is available to people who reside in and are located in England and Wales at the time of the consultation. The service does not currently involve prescribing drugs or medications, but clinicians may recommend some that are available over the counter without prescription. The service does not make referrals to non-urgent secondary care provision. Nor is it intended to provide emergency care or ongoing advice for long term health conditions. People contacting the provider in those circumstances are referred to emergency providers such as 999 or the local Accident and Emergency (A&E) department, or NHS 111.
People register to use the service via arrangements with third party organisations. To register, they must be over-18 years of age. They can then set up secure instant text message exchanges with duty doctors and midwives to discuss issues relating to women’s health and maternity / midwifery. When necessary to assist diagnosis, service users can attach photographs, videos or other files for clinicians to access and advise on. Although the services do not include arranging tests, results from tests arranged elsewhere can be discussed with clinicians.
The clinicians are registered with the relevant professional bodies. They are employed by the provider as independent practitioners and when not engaged with the service they work for the NHS in England. At the time of the inspection there were two doctors specialising in women’s healthcare and eight midwives contracted to the provider, operating various duty shifts. It is a condition of their contracts that they do not work Pando service shifts whilst on duty with the NHS.
In addition, there were nine paediatric-specialist doctors available for when that element of the service was reinstated. The provider had 17 managerial, administrative and technical staff working in the service, being either directly employed or contractors.
Information regarding the service can be found on the provider’s website –
https://access.hellopando.com/
How we inspected this service
Before the inspection we gathered and reviewed information from the provider. We conducted the inspection by online interviews with the provider’s the registered manager, the clinical lead and the deputy clinical lead. We reviewed a range of the provider’s policies and procedures and service user consultation records.
The inspection focused on the key questions Safe, Effective and Well-led.