The Institute of Translational Medicine Also known as ITM Imaging Centre

Updated 2 September 2022

The Institute of Translational Medicine, also known as ITM Imaging Centre, is operated by Cobalt Health as charitable organisation. It is an independent health provider delivering magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans for an NHS acute trust. It is in a separate pre-fabricated building on the site of a hospital.

The service provides MRI scans to adult patients from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week. The booking team at the NHS trust book MRI Scans for patients at the centre.

The centre is registered to provide the following regulated activities:

• Diagnostic and screening procedures

The head of MRI is the registered manager (RM) and has been in post since July 2021. . The RM is based substantively at another site and fulfils multiple roles for the provider whilst they recruit permanently to a local manager role.

The unit is part of a wider research network, which is outside of our scope of regulation. Research scans and provision were therefore excluded from our inspection.

We last inspected this service in January 2019 and rated it good in each domain and good overall. We did not issue any requirement notices.

In the previous 12 months the team carried out 5325 MRI scans.

Updated 2 September 2022

Our rating of this service went down. We rated it as requires improvement because:

• The service did not always have enough staff with the right skills and experience on shift to care for patients and keep them safe. Staff did not consistently assess risks to patients.
• Some safety standards, including oversight and practice, were lacking, including for fire prevention, safeguarding, and magnetic field safety.
• The provider was not assured of the effectiveness of care and did not assess standards against national best practice guidance.
• Leadership was inconsistent and staff were unclear about their roles and responsibilities. There was a lack of coordination in the unit and governance, risk management, and performance processes did not provide assurance of effectiveness.
• The provider did not facilitate access to local rules and other critical safety information for all staff responsible for scanning.

However:

• Staff had training in key skills, but it was not evident they always used them appropriately. The service controlled infection risk well. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them.
• 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.
• Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of patients receiving care.

Updated 8 April 2019

Diagnostics was the only regulated activity the service provided.

We rated this service as good because it was safe,

effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

Updated 2 September 2022

We rated this service requires improvement. Please see the main summary for details.