Background to this inspection
Updated
30 January 2020
Window to the Womb was registered in October 2019. The service was previously registered to another provider and was part of a national franchise. The service primarily serves the communities of the Manchester area. It also accepts patient referrals from outside this area.
The service had a registered manager in post.
The clinic provided baby scans including early pregnancy scans, well-being checks, growth and presentation scans and 4D scans including keepsakes and souvenirs.
We have not previously inspected this service.
Updated
30 January 2020
Window to the Womb in Salford is owned by D I Harries Manchester Ltd and trades as Window to the Womb. The service provides diagnostic pregnancy ultrasound services to self-funding women across Greater Manchester.
We inspected this service using our comprehensive inspection methodology. We carried out a short-notice announced visit to the clinic on 28 November 2019. We gave staff one working days’ notice that we were coming to inspect to ensure the availability of the registered manager and clinic.
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 main service provided by this clinic was diagnostic imaging.
Services we rate
We had not rated this service before. We rated it as Good overall.
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The service had enough staff with the right qualifications, skills, training and experience to keep people safe from avoidable harm and to provide the right care. Managers appraised staff’s work performance annually and checked to make sure staff had the right qualifications and professional registration for their roles.
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Staff assessed risks to women, they kept clear records and asked for support when necessary. Staff kept records of women’s appointments, referrals to NHS services and completed scan consent documents
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The service controlled infection risk well. The clinic had suitable premises and equipment which met the needs of people who accessed the service. This included people who accompanied women and children.
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The service made innovative use of technology to provide women with ways to access the service and their scan images. They had developed a mobile phone application which enabled women to document and share images of their baby.
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The service had clear governance arrangements that were appropriate to the size and scope of the service. Senior managers from the franchisor actively engaged with managers of the service and clinic staff. All managers promoted a positive culture that supported and valued staff.
Ann Ford
Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (North)
Updated
30 January 2020
The provision of ultrasound scanning services, which is classified under the diagnostic core service, was the only core service provided at Window to the Womb.