Patients were referred to the Vascular Department by a consultant or specialist nurse, for diagnostic screening by ultra sound. Consent to care and treatment was already established as part of the individual patient's care pathway.

The service operated from one clinical room within the Ear, Nose and Throat Outpatients department on the 1st Floor of the Royal Bolton Hospital. When patients arrived they checked in at the reception and then were escorted to the clinical room.

We spoke with two patients during the inspection and comments included; "They explained everything to me and stopped me being worried" and "I wasn't a bit nervous, they were lovely, everything was done very professionally".

There was a system in place to ensure appropriate monitoring of the quality of the service provided. Audits were undertaken and these included quality of scans, untoward incidents, performance rates and infection control.

The Vascular Department had appropriate guidance in place for staff in the event of any safeguarding incidents. We spoke with two staff and they were clear about what safeguarding incidents could occur and how these would be managed.