The Care Quality Commission
  • Hospital
  • Independent hospital

Medserena Upright MRI Centre

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

26-28 The Boulevard, Didsbury, Manchester, Lancashire, M20 2EU (0161) 434 803

Provided and run by:
Medserena Upright MRI Ltd

All Inspections

During an assessment of Diagnostic imaging

The main service provided at Medserena Upright MRI Centre is diagnostic imaging. The service provides upright magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to NHS, private insurance, private healthcare and self-paying people.

We commenced a comprehensive assessment of the diagnostic imaging services at Medserena Upright MRI Centre on 21 July 2025. The purpose of the assessment was to re-rate the diagnostic imaging services and to follow up regulatory breaches from the previous inspection in August 2018.

We carried out an unannounced inspection during 29 to 30 July 2025. During the inspection, we spoke with 7 people who used the service and 2 relatives and also looked at 10 care records. We also spoke with staff, leaders and service partners and looked at policies and other documents relating to the service.

Our overall rating for the diagnostic imaging services improved. We rated it as good.

The service had enough suitably trained staff to care for people and keep them safe. Staff protected people from abuse and managed incidents well. Staff assessed people's risks and needs, gained their consent and worked well together as a team. The service managed infection risks well and the premises and equipment were suitably maintained.

Staff treated people with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity and took account of their individual needs and choices.

Most people experienced positive outcomes following their care and treatment and could access the service when they needed it, in a way that promoted equality and protected their rights.

Leaders promoted a positive work culture based on equality, diversity and inclusion. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. Leaders worked collaboratively with stakeholders and partners to plan and manage services.

However,

The provider's policies for complaints, incident reporting and medicines management were inconsistent and did not accurately reflect staff practice.

The service did not have effective monitoring processes relating to staff recruitment records and the reporting of scan results.

During an assessment of the hospital overall

Medserena Upright MRI Centre is located in Didsbury, Manchester and is operated by Medserena Upright MRI Ltd. The service opened in November 2017 and provides upright magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to NHS, private insurance, private healthcare and self-paying people. Diagnostic imaging is the main service provided at this location.

We commenced a comprehensive assessment of the diagnostic imaging services at Medserena Upright MRI Centre on 21 July 2025. The purpose of the assessment was to re-rate the diagnostic imaging services and to follow up regulatory breaches from the previous inspection in August 2018.

We carried out an unannounced inspection during 29 to 30 July 2025. Our detailed findings for the diagnostic imaging services can be found in the services section of this report.

Our overall location rating for the service improved. We rated Medserena Upright MRI Centre as good.

The service had enough suitably trained staff to care for people and keep them safe. Staff protected people from abuse and managed incidents well. Staff assessed people's risks and needs, gained their consent and worked well together as a team. The service managed infection risks well and the premises and equipment were suitably maintained.

Staff treated people with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity and took account of their individual needs and choices.

Most people experienced positive outcomes following their care and treatment and could access the service when they needed it, in a way that promoted equality and protected their rights.

Leaders promoted a positive work culture based on equality, diversity and inclusion. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. Leaders worked collaboratively with stakeholders and partners to plan and manage services.

However,

The provider's complaints, incident reporting and medicines management policies were inconsistent and did not accurately reflect staff practice.

The service did not have effective monitoring processes relating to staff recruitment records and the reporting of scan results.

8 August 2018 and 15 August 2018

During a routine inspection

Medserena Upright MRI Centre is operated by Medserena Upright MRI LTD.

Medserena Upright MRI Centre is in Manchester. It was opened in November 2017 and provides upright magnetic resonance imaging scans to adults and children over 12 years old. The service is located on the ground floor and facilities include one magnetic resonance imaging scanner, two changing areas, a waiting area and two consulting rooms.

We inspected the service in Manchester using our new phase inspection methodology. We carried out an unannounced part of the inspection on 8 August 2018, along with an announced visit on 15 August 2018.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we ask the same five questions of all services: are they safe, effective, caring, responsive to people's needs, and well-led? Where we have a legal duty to do so we rate services’ performance against each key question as outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate.

Throughout the inspection, we took account of what people told us and how the provider understood and complied with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

This is the first time we have inspected Medserena Upright MRI Centre, Manchester, therefore we have not previously rated this service. We rated it as requires Improvement overall.

We found areas of practice that require improvement:

  • The service was not able to demonstrate that there was a robust recruitment process to ensure staff employed were ‘fit and proper’ for their role.
  • The service did not have systems in place to document and demonstrate risks had been identified, and that actions were taken to mitigate risk or monitored.
  • Policies and procedures were not robust and did not always reflect current guidance.
  • There was no evidence of an effective process in assessing, monitoring and improving the service.
  • Not all staff received mandatory training.
  • Records were not stored securely.

We also found the following areas of good practice:

  • The service had suitable premises and equipment that were maintained and well looked after.
  • Staff assessed and responded to patient risk.
  • The service planned and offered services in a way that met the needs of the local people.
  • Staff treated patients with care and compassion.

Following this inspection, we told the provider that it must take some actions to comply with the regulations and that it should make other improvements, even though a regulation had not been breached, to help the service improve. We also issued the provider with four requirement notices. Details are at the end of the report.

Ellen Armistead

Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (North)