Ultrasound Direct London

Updated 15 May 2020

Ultrasound Direct London is operated by A1F1 Ltd. The service was originally registered in 2012 under a different name and at a different location but provided the same services. The current location was registered with Care Quality Commission (CQC) in 2019. It is a private ultrasound provider based in Croydon, Surrey. The service also operates from seven satellite locations across London. The service serves communities across London. It also accepts patient referrals from outside this area.

The service has had a registered manager in post since 2019, this manager also managed the previously registered service. We inspected service in 2013 under our previous methodology and found there to be no breaches of regulations.

Updated 15 May 2020

Ultrasound Direct London is operated by A1F1 Ltd and was a franchise of Ultrasound Direct Limited. The service provides ultrasound imaging services from one registered location and seven satellite locations.

The service provides ultrasound imaging and diagnostics for patients aged over 16 years. We inspected diagnostic imaging services.

We inspected this service using our comprehensive inspection methodology. We carried out the and unannounced visit to the service on 12 and 13 March 2020.

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.

We have provided guidance for services that we rate and do not rate.

Services we rate

We rated it as Good overall because:

• The service had enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe and had flexibility built into the system to allow for extra capacity. All staff had training in key skills, understood how to protect patients from abuse, and managed safety well. The service controlled infection risk well. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them.

• Staff provided good care and treatment and offered them something to drink while waiting. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients, advised them on how to lead healthier lives, supported them to make decisions about their care, and had access to good information. Services were 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, took account of patients’ individual needs, 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. 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 to plan services and staff were committed to improving services continually.

Following this inspection, we told the provider that it should make improvements, even though a regulation had not been breached, to help the service improve. Details are at the end of the report.

Nigel Acheson

Deputy Chief Inspector

Updated 15 May 2020

Ultrasound Direct London provided an ultrasound scanning and screening service for privately paying patients over the age of 16.

We rated this service as good because it was good for safe, caring, responsive and well-led. We do not routinely rate effective for this type of service.