Essex Ultrasound & Medical Services Limited Also known as Essexultrasound

Updated 1 February 2023

Essex Ultrasound and Medical Services is operated by Essex Ultrasound and Medical Services Limited. The service opened in October 2016 and is based in Canvey Island, Essex. The service serves communities across a wide geographic area from rented space in clinical premises, such as primary care hubs and GP surgeries. The provider does not operate its own clinical centre.

The provider is registered to provider care under the following regulated activities:

• Diagnostic and screening procedures

The service provides ultrasound scans to people over the age of 18 across a range of modes including musculoskeletal, kidney, bladder, thyroid, transvaginal, and abdominal.

The service has had a registered manager in post since October 2016 who is also the business owner.

Patients are referred from NHS services as part of the national ‘any qualified provider’ (AQP) scheme to increase capacity, reduce waiting times, and reduce unnecessary referrals to secondary care.

We last inspected the service in October 2018 and rated it good overall and good in each domain except effective, which we did not rate. At that inspection we found the provider was in breach of Regulation 12 (2)(3) of the CQC (Registration) Regulations 2009. This was because the service was providing care to people outside of the scope of its statement of purpose. We also told the service it should improve standards of privacy for patients in scanning rooms. At this inspection we found the registered manager had addressed both issues.

Updated 1 February 2023

Our rating of the service stayed the same. We rated it as good because:

• The service had enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe. Staff had training in key skills, understood how to protect patients from abuse, and managed safety well. The service controlled infection risk well. Staff assessed risks to patients, acted on them and kept good care records. The service had systems to manage safety incidents.
• Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and supported staff to develop their skills. Staff understood the service’s values and how to apply them in their work. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities. The service engaged well with patients and the community to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services continually.

However:

• While most feedback from referring professionals was good, there was some areas of inconsistency in adherence to scan protocols.
• Staff managed safety incidents but there was a lack of centralised recording that meant it was difficult to track themes categories of incidents.

Updated 1 February 2023

We rated this service as good because it was safe and well led. Please see our main summary for more information.