Teleconsult UK

Updated 27 June 2022

Teleconsult UK is operated by TXM Teleconsult Limited, providing teleradiology reporting services. Teleradiology is the transmission of patients’ radiological images between different locations to produce a primary report, expert second opinion or clinical review.

The service is led by a team of UK based medical and healthcare professionals and teleradiology experts. Their service is focused around the analysis and interpretation of radiology scans, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerised tomography (CT) scans, and plain film x-ray. Radiologists report on the images of both adults and children.

The service provides diagnostic imaging services on a remote basis, which meant patients did not attend the location and staff had no direct contact with patients. All patient care and contact was made by the referring NHS trust responsible for their treatment. The service did not store or prescribe medicines and did not monitor patient symptoms, such as pain or clinical presentations.

The service had a registered manager in post and was registered to carry out the following regulated activities:

• Diagnostic and screening procedures

Teleconsult UK was registered in 2021 and had not been previously inspected.

Updated 27 June 2022

This was the first inspection for Teleconsult UK. We rated it as good because:

• There were enough staff to provide a safe service. Staff had training in key skills, understood how to identify abuse, and managed safety well. Staff assessed risks, acted on them and kept good records. The provider managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them. Staff collected safety information and used it to improve the service.
• The provider had systems to ensure reporting radiologists who provided services had appropriate equipment installed.
• Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. There were systems to act on urgent and emergency referrals. There were escalation processes for radiologists in the event of a significant finding. Staff worked well together and had access to good information. Services were available five days a week, although reporting continued seven days a week.
• Clients could access the service when they needed it and received the report within agreed timeframes.
• Managers ran the service well using reliable information systems and supported staff to develop their skills. Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work. Staff felt respected, supported and valued, and they were clear about their roles and accountabilities. Staff engaged well with clients and all staff were committed to improving services provided.

We rated this service as good because it was safe, effective, responsive, and well-led. We inspected but did not rate effective as we did not assess all areas. We did not inspect or rate caring as this service did not work directly with patients.

Updated 27 June 2022

This is the first time we have rated this service. We rated it as good. See the summary above for details.