Parkway

We commenced a responsive inspection of diagnostic imaging at Parkway from 2-3 June 2025, which took place because of concerns people had raised about the service. We assessed 32 quality statements across safe, effective, caring, responsive, and well led. We have combined the score for these areas to give the overall inspection rating for diagnostic imaging at Parkway.

The service provides non-obstetric ultrasound clinics that are based across approximately a dozen different sites in the Stockport authority and typically receives around 500 referrals per week. Each clinic is attended by a sonographer and a healthcare assistant, using portable ultrasound units that are moved between sites as needed. Sonographers undertake a range of examinations dependent on their assessed competency, which may include transvaginal scans.

Parkway also accepts referrals for MRI scans, which are provided by 2 mobile MRI scanners, whose ownership is held by a different provider. One scanner is present periodically at the Parkway main site and the other is based in Cheetham Hill, Manchester. Only the Cheetham Hill location uses staff directly employed by Beacon Medical Services. Parkway does not accept urgent MRI referrals (but does have processes to manage urgent findings) and typically receives 100-150 routine scan referrals per week.

At our last inspection we rated diagnostic imaging as good. At this inspection the rating remains good. We found 2 breaches of the regulations in relation to safe care and treatment and fit and proper persons employed.

Managers routinely audited the quality of scans and reported the results of these to staff regularly. The service had a focus on providing care that was easily accessible and waiting times and report writing times were consistently good. Staff had a good understanding of infection prevention, were aware and met the needs of individual service users, and took pride in their work.

However, routine servicing of ultrasound equipment was not always conducted within a suitable timeframe, and there were no clear contingency plans if equipment stopped working. Staff files did not always contain evidence of mandatory training for freelance staff, and appropriate pre-employment checks of qualifications and professional registration were not always conducted. Appraisals for sonographers had not been recently conducted, and compliance with mandatory training did not always meet targets. The extended absence of a sonography clinical lead had also impacted on the governance and shared direction of the service.

Findings that relate to the overall service at Parkway and are not specific to diagnostic imaging are reported in the surgery section, where indicated.

We commenced a responsive inspection of medical care at Parkway from 2-3 June 2025, which took place because of concerns people had raised about the service. We assessed 33 quality statements across safe, effective, caring, responsive, and well-led. We have combined the score for these areas to give the overall inspection rating for medical care at Parkway.

The service provides consultant-led community endoscopy clinics in a designated endoscopy suite at the location. The service receives GP referrals for investigation of conditions such as benign polyps, gastritis, and inflammatory bowel disease. Available endoscopy procedures included colonoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy, gastroscopy and trans-nasal endoscopy. Between March 2024 and April 2025, a total of 4660 people had been seen in the service. Registered nurses and healthcare assistants work alongside consultants to support overall service delivery.

At our last inspection we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has changed to requires improvement. This meant some aspects of the service were not always safe and there was limited assurance about safety. There was an increased risk that people could be harmed.

Arrangements for the safe management of medicines were not in place and staff had not completed medicines management training at the time of our inspection. Staff did not always follow service policy for sedation or complete care records accurately and oxygen cylinders were not safely stored on the premises.

However, the service had a focus on providing care that was responsive and met accreditation standards. The service ensured that waiting times for appointments were low.

Findings that relate to the overall service and are not specific to medical care are reported in the surgery section, where indicated.

We commenced a responsive inspection of outpatients at Parkway from 2-3 June 2025, which took place because of concerns people had raised about the service. We assessed 33 quality statements across safe, effective, caring, responsive, and well led. We have combined the score for these areas to give the overall inspection rating for outpatients at Parkway.

The service provides outpatient Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) clinics that are based both at the main Parkway site and across 9 satellite clinics located in Manchester, Preston, and Chorley. The service is consultant-led and receives over 600 referrals a month. Clinics are supported by nurses and healthcare assistants and see people for a variety of routine ENT complaints. Only adults are seen in Manchester, although both children and adults may be seen within the Preston and Chorley local authorities.

Parkway provides an audiology service to support the work of ENT clinics, with diagnostic testing provided on-demand, including for children at the Preston and Chorley sites. The audiology service also runs standalone clinics for both private and NHS service users, providing hearing assessment and hearing aid provision to adults. Our assessment only included parts of the regulated activity for which we inspect, which was the audiology activity to support ENT clinics and when testing children.

At our last inspection we rated outpatients as good. At this inspection the rating remains good.

The service had a focus on providing care that was easily accessible, and waiting times were consistently good. The audiology service is actively seeking to innovate in its practice and recently received IQIPS (Improving Quality in Physiological Services) accreditation in its drive to continuously improve.

However, the service had not identified that all staff who routinely saw children as part of their clinical practice needed a higher level of safeguarding training than had been completed. This meant that managers could not be assured that such staff have the required level of competence to identify and act on children’s safeguarding concerns.

Findings that relate to the overall service and are not specific to outpatients are reported in the surgery section, where indicated.

We commenced a responsive inspection of surgery at Parkway from 2-3 June 2025, following recent concerns identified in contact cases and statutory notifications we received about the service. We assessed 33 quality statements across safe, effective, caring, responsive, and well led. We have combined the score for these areas to give the overall inspection rating for surgery at Parkway.

The service has a clinic room for appointments and a day case area providing facilities for surgical consultations and minor surgery, such as the excision of lesions and cysts under local anaesthetic. Between March 2025 and April 2025, the service had seen a total of 1940 patients.

During the inspection, we spoke with staff, leaders, people who use the service and service partners. We looked at care records, policies and other documents relating to the service.

We rated the service as requires improvement. The service did not have systems for the safe management of medicines. Governance systems and audits were not effective in identifying or addressing areas for improvement. Leaders did not always understand the key risks to the service.

However, there were enough staff to ensure people’s needs were met and worked well together as a team. The service ensured that people experienced positive outcomes following surgery. Leaders promoted a positive work culture.