Women's Scan Clinic

Ratings - Diagnostic imaging

• Overall

  Requires improvement

• Safe

  Requires improvement

• Effective

  Requires improvement

• Caring

  Good

• Responsive

  Good

• Well-led

  Requires improvement

Our view of the service

This was the first assessment of the service since registration in January 2022.

We found a breach of Regulation 17: Good governance relating to safeguarding, consent processes and infection prevention and control.

We identified significant shortfalls in governance arrangements. The provider could not demonstrate effective oversight of quality, safety and performance. Governance systems had not ensured policies were current. Staff training requirements were not clearly defined. Incidents were not reviewed effectively, and audits were not undertaken to provide assurance about the quality of care being delivered. Staff did not always have the right safeguarding training; consent processes were inconsistently applied and documented; and infection prevention and control risks were not adequately assessed or managed.

However, we found women were treated with kindness and compassion and spoke positively about their experiences of care. Staff worked effectively with external healthcare providers to ensure continuity of care when concerns were identified or referrals were required.

People's experience of this service

On the day of the on-site inspection, we were only able to speak to a limited number of women who attended an appointment. They gave positive feedback and described the service as helpful, friendly and informative. After the inspection we spoke to 3 other women who also gave good feedback. One said, “We were made to feel really welcome and didn’t feel rushed at all. We could take time to look at the scan and ask questions.”

However, the service did not have a process to obtain feedback or comments, so we were unable to review this or any other source of information during or after the inspection.