The Care Quality Commission
  • Hospital
  • Independent hospital

Archived: Mobile Ultrasound Services - Alliance Medical Limited

Iceni Centre, Warwick Technology Park, Gallows Hill, Warwick, Warwickshire, CV34 6DA (01926) 482000

Provided and run by:
Alliance Medical Limited

All Inspections

6 November 2012

During a routine inspection

We spoke with the registered manager for this service. This person was based at the company head office. On the day of the inspection there where no mobile ultrasound staff on site as they were out providing mobile ultrasound services. We have tried to contact two mobile ultrasound staff but have not been able to speak with them.

We have not been able to speak with patients' using the service because mobile ultrasound services are provided in a number of locations. The inspection took place at the Alliance Medical Head Office. We gathered evidence of patients' experiences of the service by looking at one summary report of patient satisfaction responses. This report was provided by Alliance Medical. We also reviewed one patient's completed 'patient satisfaction questionnaire', which was stored within their electronic records. This information showed us that there were systems in place to capture patients' experiences of the service and the care and treatment they had received.

There was evidence of close working amongst healthcare professionals to ensure patients' needs had been met and risks identified prior to ultrasound scans being undertaken.

We saw that steps had been taken to ensure that the mobile ultrasound staff skills had been kept updated. We saw staff training records and were told staff had received yearly appraisals.

9 January 2012

During a routine inspection

Alliance Medical Limited has ten mobile ultrasound scanning facilities, which are operated by 14 medical professionals known as sonographers. Referral to the service is made by healthcare professionals and is available to both NHS and privately funded patients.

As part of this review we requested information from Alliance Medical Services about the service they offered. We also met with the registered manager of the ultrasound mobile services. We saw from the documentation received that people had been provided with good information about the service and their treatment had been clearly explained.

We did not speak directly to people who had used the service but we did review the results of recent patient satisfaction surveys undertaken across various sites. The surveys indicated that people were positive about their experience. Some of the comments received include:

'Staff were very professional and friendly. Also, very speedy process and I was clear about what was happening.'