Inhealth Echotech - Beechwood Hall

Updated 19 December 2019

InHealth Echotech – InHealth Echotech Limited is part of the InHealth Group operating from Beechwood Hall. The service has been operational since 2014. InHealth Echotech is commissioned to provide standard Adult Transthoracic Echocardiography (ultrasound of the heart) services to private and NHS customers.

The service is registered with the CQC to undertake the regulated activity of diagnostic and screening procedures.

Due to the nature of the geographically spread service there are two currently registered managers in post one since September 2018 and one since April 2019.

We have not previously inspected this service.

The service did not use or store medicines.

Updated 19 December 2019

InHealth Echotech – Beechwood Hall is part of InHealth Echotech Limited and is part of the InHealth Group. It has been operational since 2014, InHealth Echotech provides standard adult transthoracic echocardiography services (an ultrasound of the heart) to predominantly NHS patients.

InHealth Echotech has 68 operational sites based within GP practices, community hospitals and medical centres. Clinics are provided Monday to Sunday at some sites and services are offered to patients aged 16 years and over who do not have congenital heart disease (heart conditions that are present from birth) or complex heart conditions. Out of approximately 28,700 scans completed a total of 16 under 18-year olds were scanned between July 2018 to July 2019.

Additionally, InHealth Echotech provides a screening echocardiography service to the Ministry of Defence for candidates undergoing medical clearance. Screening is offered to candidates aged 15 years and over and is carried out at MOD centres and venues. These services are not in the scope of the CQC inspection programme and were not inspected.

We inspected this service using our comprehensive inspection methodology. We carried out the announced part of the inspection on 2nd October 2019 where we visited the head office which is the registered location. On the 4th, 7th, 9th and 10th October 2019 we visited various other sites across England. We gave staff two working days’ notice that we were coming to inspect on the above dates to ensure  the clinics were open.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we ask the same five questions of all services: are they safe, effective, caring, responsive to people's needs, and well-led? Where we have a legal duty to do so we rate services’ performance against each key question as outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate.

Throughout the inspection, we took account of what people told us and how the provider understood and complied with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

The regulated activity provided by this provider was diagnostic and screening procedures.

Services we rate

We rated it as Good overall.

We found good practice in relation to diagnostic imaging:

• 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 managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them. Staff collected safety information and used it to improve the service.

• Staff provided good care and treatment and managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients and had access to good information. The service was available seven days a week.

• Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, took account of their individual needs, and helped them understand their conditions. They provided emotional support to patients, families and carers.

• The service planned care to meet the needs of local people and made it easy for people to give feedback. People could access the service when they needed it and did not have to wait too long for treatment.

• Leaders ran services 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. 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.

Nigel Acheson

Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals South and London

Updated 19 December 2019

The service provided at this location was diagnostic and screening procedures. We rated this service as good overall because it was safe, caring, responsive and well-led.