Archived: Early Life Ultrasound Centre

Updated 13 September 2022

Early Life Ultrasound Centre in Cheltenham is operated by Early Life Ultrasound Centre Limited. Scans are provided for pregnant women from 18 years of age. The service provides a range of scans for pregnant women with scans taking place from seven weeks to full term. The service is provided to self-funding women across Cheltenham. These include 3D/4D ultrasound imaging, early pregnancy/reassurance scans, endometrial lining scans and well-being scans. The service employed four staff plus the registered manager, and a total of 1216 scans were performed since January 2022.

The service also provides non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPTs) for pregnant women and caters for pregnant women who choose obstetric ultrasound services, in addition to routine antenatal ultrasound services or those who are undergoing fertility treatment abroad. The service had provided 44 non-invasive prenatal tests since January 2022.

All women accessing the service are private (self-funding) patients.

The service provides the single specialty core service diagnostic imaging. We inspected this service using our comprehensive inspection methodology. We carried out a short notice announced inspection on 01 August 2022.

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.

Updated 13 September 2022

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection, the rating stayed the same. We rated it as good because:

• The service had enough staff to care for women and keep them safe. Staff had training in key skills, understood how to protect women from abuse, and managed safety well. The service controlled infection risk well. Staff assessed risks to women, 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. Staff worked well together for the benefit of women, advised them on how to lead healthier lives, supported them to make decisions about their care, and had access to good information.
• Staff treated women 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 women, families and carers.
• The service planned care to meet the needs of local people, took account of women’s individual needs, and made it easy for people to give feedback. People told us they could access the service when they needed it, although this was dependent on the availability of the sonographer and did not have to wait too long for their results.
• 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 women receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities. The service engaged well with women and the community to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services continually.

Updated 13 September 2022

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection, the rating stayed the same. We rated it as good because:

• The service had enough staff to care for women and keep them safe. Staff had training in key skills, understood how to protect women from abuse, and managed safety well. The service controlled infection risk well. Staff assessed risks to women, 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. Staff worked well together for the benefit of women, advised them on how to lead healthier lives, supported them to make decisions about their care, and had access to good information.
• Staff treated women 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 women, families and carers.
• The service planned care to meet the needs of local people, took account of women’s individual needs, and made it easy for people to give feedback. People told us they could access the service when they needed it, although this was dependent on the availability of the sonographer and did not have to wait too long for their results.
• 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 women receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities. The service engaged well with women and the community to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services continually.

Updated 12 March 2020

This is a diagnostic imaging service run by Early Life Ultrasound Centre Limited. The service is based in Cheltenham.

We rated the service as good. Safe, caring and responsive were good but well led required improvement. We do not rate effective for this type of service.