Alliance Medical Imaging Centres – Harley Street is operated by Alliance Medical Limited. The service consists of two ultrasound rooms, two X-ray rooms with back-up ultrasound capabilities, a fluoroscopy room, and control/viewing room.

The unit provides diagnostic imaging services mainly for adults, and children above 13 years of age. Services offered include ultrasound, X-ray, fluoroscopy, musculoskeletal imaging, prostrate imaging and biopsy, and uro-radiology. The unit serves both privately funded and NHS patients as well as overseas patients.

We inspected this service using our comprehensive inspection methodology. We carried out an unannounced inspection on 11 January 2019.

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.

We rated the service as Good overall because.

• There were effective systems to protect people from harm. Learning from incidents was discussed in unit and governance meetings and action was taken to follow up on the results of investigations.

• Staff kept records of patients’ care and treatment. Staff completed comprehensive risk assessments and followed escalation protocols for deteriorating patients.

• Medicines were stored and administered safely.

• Staff provided evidence based care and treatment in line with national guidelines and local policies. There was a program of local audits to improve patient care.

• The service made sure staff were competent for their roles. Managers appraised staff’s work performance.

• Staff were aware of their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and we saw appropriate records in patient’s notes.

• There was effective multidisciplinary working, including liaison with referring clinicians.

• Feedback from patients about the service was positive. Staff respected the confidentiality, dignity and privacy of patients.

• Services were developed to meet the needs of patients and people could access the service when they needed it.

• The service treated concerns and complaints seriously, investigated them and learned lessons from the results, and shared these with all staff.

• The service had a vision for what it wanted to achieve and plans to turn it into action. Managers promoted a positive culture that supported and valued staff.

However,

• A split in the stair railings to the basement posed a risk of falls to patients and members of the public.

• Some of the policies we reviewed during our inspection did not have a review date.

Nigel Acheson

Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (London and South)

We were not able to speak to people using the service because no patients were available at the time of the inspection. We gathered evidence of people’s experiences of the service by looking at recent patient satisfaction survey results between April 2012 and June 2012 (58 respondents). The centre was rated positively in all responses. Patients praised the quality of their treatment and the way they were cared for by staff. Comments made included “thank you for your professional, courteous and prompt service” and the service was described as “very slick and efficient” and “professional and friendly”.