Wessex Healthcare Diagnostics

Updated 10 November 2022

Wessex Healthcare Diagnostics is a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) of Consultant Radiologists providing a remote teleradiology reporting service for the NHS. An LLP is a business arrangement commonly used in professional practice, in which each owner (partner) is not legally responsible for another’s misconduct or negligence.

The regulated activities are managed and carried out in reporting staff’s own homes.

The service is electronically sent CT scans, MRI scans and X-rays and provide interpretation on those imaging examinations in the form of electronic radiology reports. Teleradiology is the transmission and display of radiological images, such as CT scans and X-rays, in a location independent of the location the patient is imaged. It allows specialist doctors (radiologists) and reporting radiographers to provide an expert and timely report to allow clinicians to decide on the best treatment for their patients. Radiologists will be referred to as reporting staff throughout this report. The NHS trust the service has a contract with, will be referred to throughout this report as the contracted to NHS trust.

The service has no direct contact with patients and does not provide direct patient care. The service reports on both images of adults and children.

This is the first time we have inspected this service. We inspected the service using the teleradiology framework.

This service was registered by CQC on 22 June 2020.

The service is registered to carry out the following regulated activities: Diagnostic and screening procedures.

The service has a registered manager in post.

Updated 10 November 2022

This is the first inspection of this service. We rated it as good because:

Contracted reporters had training in key skills, understood how to identify abuse, and managed safety well.

The service undertook some audits and used the results to improve the service.

Referring organisations could access the service when they needed it.

There were effective escalation processes for unexpected and significant findings.

Staff and contracted reporters worked well together for the benefit of patients and had access to good information.

The leadership, governance and culture were used to drive and improve the delivery of the service.

Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work.

Staff were proud of the organisation as a place to work and spoke highly of the culture.

Staff felt respected, supported and valued. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities.

However:

There was no evidence consideration had been given to the level of DBS staff DBS checks required for staff.

There was not always oversight of data security standards for staff working from home.

Risk assessments for staff use of IT equipment had not been undertaken.

Updated 10 November 2022

This is the first inspection of this service. We rated it as good because:

Contracted reporters had training in key skills, understood how to identify abuse, and managed safety well.

The service undertook some audits and used the results to improve the service.

Referring organisations could access the service when they needed it.

There were effective escalation processes for unexpected and significant findings.

Staff and contracted reporters worked well together for the benefit of patients and had access to good information.

The leadership, governance and culture were used to drive and improve the delivery of the service.

Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work.

Staff were proud of the organisation as a place to work and spoke highly of the culture.

Staff felt respected, supported and valued. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities.

However:

There was no evidence consideration had been given to the level of DBS staff DBS checks required for staff.

There was not always oversight of data security standards for staff working from home.

Risk assessments for staff use of IT equipment had not been undertaken.