Manchester Lactation Consultants

Updated 30 October 2023

Manchester Lactation Consultants is a private self-referral tongue-tie (frenulotomy) service operated by Tara Kennedy-Burke who is the registered manager.

Patients are babies aged from zero to six months. The service also offers breast feeding and infant feeding support to adult carers.

Some babies are born with a condition known as tongue-tie, which has the medical name ankyloglossia. The fold of skin under the tongue that connects the tongue to the bottom of the mouth is shorter than usual, which restricts the movement of the tongue. This can cause problems with breastfeeding or bottle-fed babies and the baby may not gain weight at the normal rate. Some babies require a surgical intervention to release the tongue, which is known as a frenulotomy or frenotomy. Frenulotomy services may be offered by the NHS or independent healthcare professionals such as doctors, dentists or midwives.

The service consisted of the two owner practitioners who were both registered with the Nursing Midwifery Council (NMC) and were infant feeding specialists and qualified tongue-tie practitioners.

The premises comprised of a single storey self-contained office building providing two consulting rooms, kitchen, toilet and hall area with parking to the front. Clinics normally took place on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but the practitioners were contactable by telephone, email and text seven days a week if needed 9am to 8pm.

The service was based in Hale, Manchester, and was registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 25 June 2021 for surgical procedures. There is an additional satellite service at a local general practitioner (GP) practice.

The service has not previously been inspected.

Updated 30 October 2023

Our rating of this location was Good. We rated it as good because:

• Practitioners followed national guidance and evidence-based practice to provide good care and treatment. Practitioners had training in key skills, understood how to protect babies and their carers from abuse, and managed safety well.
• Risk assessments were completed for all babies using an evidence-based standard assessment tool. Practitioners recognised risks to babies, acted on them and kept good care records.
• Practitioners were highly motivated and enthusiastic about their service. They provided dedicated and emotional support to primary carers and babies and helped them understand their individual needs. Feedback we received from carers said the practitioners treated babies and their carers with compassion and kindness, took account of their individual needs, and helped carers understand the condition. There was a high level of aftercare available to carers following the procedure including QR codes via phones that could also be accessed in different languages.
• Carers could access the practitioner when they needed to and did not have to wait long for assessment or treatment.
• There was evidence of quality monitoring through regular audit.
• The process of seeking and recording consent was thorough and included sufficient information to allow for informed decisions to be made by the carer.

However:

• The service did not always keep the risk register updated and current.
• The service did not have a clear strategy to turn its vision into action.
• The service did not have a lone working policy or processes to ensure that staff were safe when making home visits.
• The service did not have a clear complaints process or policy on their website so carers could raise a complaint after leaving the service. Incorrect advice was also given when signposting carers for external review of their individual complaints.
• There was no visible domestic violence support information in the clinic area or toilet to support carers who may be at risk of domestic abuse.

Updated 30 October 2023

See the main summary above for details.