Archived: NHS Clapham SPMS

Updated 19 November 2018

NHS Clapham SPMS is an independent provider of medical services. The service provides ultrasound to pregnant women only. Services are provided at 89 Clapham High Street, Clapham, London, SW4 7DB and 2-8 Gracefield Gardens, Streatham, London, SW16 2ST. Both sites are in the London borough of Lambeth. Although the provider is itself private, the majority of patients seen at the service are for NHS ultrasound checks. The service sees approximately 4,000 patients per year.

The service is open on Mondays and Saturdays in Clapham and on Tuesdays and Saturdays in Streatham. Weekday opening times are 8am to 6pm on weekdays and from 9am to 6pm on Saturdays. The service does not offer elective care outside of these hours, and patients are not specifically directed to other services.

In both locations the room is either on the ground floor or can be accessible by lift. Both properties have a single clinical room based within a larger health centre. The Limited company is managed by the partners of the Clapham Family Practice who are based at the Clapham site.

The service is operated by a team of seven sonographers. Administrative and management support for the service is provided from staff at the Clapham Family Practice who also work for the service. One of the Directors of the company who is also a GP at the Clapham Family Practice is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The service is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to provide the regulated activity of treatment of disease, disorder or injury and diagnostic and screening procedures.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:

• Is it safe?
• Is it effective?
• Is it caring?
• Is it responsive to people’s needs?
• Is it well-led?

These questions therefore formed the framework for the areas we looked at during the inspection.

Updated 19 November 2018

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 1 October 2018 to ask the service the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

We found that this service was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations

Are services effective?

We found that this service was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations

Are services caring?

We found that this service was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations

Are services responsive?

We found that this service was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations

Are services well-led?

We found that this service was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

NHS Clapham SPMS is an independent provider of medical services. The service provides ultrasound services for pregnant patients only, at two sites in Lambeth.

Our key findings were:

• The service had systems in place to manage significant events.
• Policies and procedures were in place to govern all relevant areas.
• The service had risk management procedures in place including those to minimise the risk of infection.
• Sonographers assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance.
• The service had systems in place for monitoring and auditing the care that had been provided.
• Staff had been trained in areas relevant to their role.
• Patients were treated with compassion, dignity and respect.
• Information about services was available and easy to understand. The complaints system was clear and was clearly advertised.
• The service had good facilities and was well equipped to manage patients and meet their needs.
• The service sought feedback from patients, which showed that a large majority of patients were satisfied with the service they had received.
• The service was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice