Parkway

Ratings - Diagnostic imaging

• Overall

  Good

• Safe

  Good

• Effective

  Good

• Caring

  Good

• Responsive

  Good

• Well-led

  Requires improvement

Our view of the service

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.

People's experience of this service

During the inspection we spoke with service users and their families who all provided positive feedback about the service and staff. We observed kind and compassionate interactions between staff and service users and saw correspondence from the service that was sensitive to individuals’ needs.