A Merseyside clinic that provides shockwave therapy to both NHS and private sector patients has been given an inadequate rating by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Impact Medical Limited offers treatment to both adults and children, undertaking two clinics per month at dedicated children's hospitals. The service operates from a base site in Aintree which until May of this year had never been inspected by the CQC.
A warning notice has been served by the inspectors to make "immediate improvements" after it was deemed Impact Medical had failed to comply with serval safeguarding legislations. A requirement notice was also put in place to improve standards.
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The report said: "The service did not have a deteriorating patient policy and did not familiarise staff with the process at each individual site it provided services for. This meant that if a patient experienced a sudden deterioration in health, the service could not be assured staff would recognise or respond promptly to protect the patient.
"There was no specific pathway or process in place for staff in the management of patients using the service who were clinically unwell and required hospital admission."
"Incident reporting at the service was unclear because of the lack of clarity of working practices with the various host organisations. Managers told us there had been no incidents within the last 12 months however we heard an example of a patient whom had deteriorated whilst undergoing treatment within the last 12 months that had not been recorded as an incident.
"Clear guidance to staff and arrangements with host organisation was not in place to ensure that staff understood when, who to and how to report incidents. This meant safety monitoring, duty of candour and learning from incidents could not be applied appropriately within the service."
However, the report said staff treated patients with "compassion" and "kindness" and where attentive to their "individual needs" but that leaders did not run services using reliable information systems or support staff to develop their skills. The report said: "Staff did not understand the service’s vision and values, or how to apply them in their work.
"The service did not engage with patients and the community to plan and manage services and all staff were not committed to improving services continually."
A spokesperson for Impact Medical Limited said: "The report was based on an inspection made by the CQC at the end of May 2022. Firstly, we must state that the report gave us a good rating for being focused on the care in meeting the needs of the patients.
"To quote the report, all the patients gave feedback of 'Brilliant' in the care delivered by our staff. Our Care and responses to patients' needs demonstrated a safe and caring environment.
"With regards the two areas of concern rated inadequate, Impact Medical Ltd have since prioritised steps and resolved such concerns with immediate effect. It is important to state that the company did not breach any regulation overall, but improvements were required to make sure that it did comply, and prevent it from failing in the future.
"The company takes its obligations to safety and care as its highest priority, and will continue to collaborate with its staff and host organisations in making improvements that meet the needs of the patients. Impact Medical Ltd have successfully implemented new systems for record keeping, Audit, Mandatory training, including safeguarding, whilst encouraging Continuous professional development.
"All Clinical employees have up to date HCPC registration, whilst clear Disclosure and Barring Service checks were clear for all Impact Medical Ltd Staff."
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