Leeds ultrasound clinic ordered to make immediate improvements after damning CQC inspection

A Leeds clinic that provides private ultrasound scans for pregnant women has been told it must make immediate improvements following an damning inspection by the Quality Care Commission (CQC).

Precious Glimpse Roundhay, on Street Lane, was downgraded from Requires Improvement to Inadequate following an inspection by the care watchdog on May 5.

The pregnancy care centre provides around 40 private ultrasound scans a week for paying customers, including early scans, 2D, 3D, 4D baby keepsake scans and gender scans.

The CQC inspection, carried out as part of its ongoing monitoring of services, identified both new and ongoing breaches of regulations concerning safe care, treatment, and effective management.

Inspectors also found a new breach relating to the clinic's premises and equipment.

CQC downgraded the rating for being safe and well-led from Requires Improvement to Inadequate, caring and responsive dropped from Good to Requires Improvement, while effective was rated Inadequate.

Inspectors found the clinic had failed to ensure its facilities and equipment were kept clean and well maintained, while the registered manager had not kept up to date with mandatory training or completed refresher competency training.

The CQC also said patients were not given enough information about the risks associated with their care to give informed consent, and the service had no systems in place to respond if someone suddenly became unwell.

Inspectors also found the clinic did not ask patients when they had undergone NHS scans and had no process for monitoring how frequently people were having scans, raising what the CQC described as a "potential risk" to unborn babies. The watchdog noted research into the risks associated with frequent scans is ongoing.

A warning notice has now been issued requiring the clinic to make significant improvements to the quality of care provided.

The watchdog did point out that women they spoke to were “mostly positive” about the service they had received. However, some online feedback stated people “did not always feel fully informed about the procedure and associated costs”.

Precious Glimpse Roundhay had previously been part of the Precious Glimpse Ltd franchise, but a spokesperson for the latter company said the clinic was no longer affiliated with it.

Precious Glimpse Roundhay was contacted for comment but declined to respond.