Archived: Brighton Nuffield MRI & CT Unit

Updated 29 March 2019

Brighton Nuffield MRI & CT Unit is operated by Alliance Medical Limited. The service first provided mobile services in 1997 and a static department was created in 2003 within a radiology department. The service primarily serves the communities of the South Downs.

Brighton Nuffield MRI & CT Unit provides magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computerised tomography (CT) scanning to children from the age of three and adults. The service shares facilities including a waiting room with the host site’s Radiology department.

The unit manager was the service’s registered manager and had been in post for two years.

Updated 29 March 2019

Brighton Nuffield MRI & CT Unit is operated by Alliance Medical Limited. The service registered with the CQC in 2010. It was last inspected in 2014 under the previous CQC inspection methodology, with a follow-up desk based inspection in January 2015 and at that time met the standards that it was measured against.

We inspected this service using our comprehensive inspection methodology. We carried out the unannounced part of the inspection on 15 January 2019.

We rated the service as good overall.

Our key findings were as follows:

• Staff had the right qualifications, skills, knowledge, and experience to undertake their roles and responsibilities. They had access to training and were supported by service leaders.

• There were effective systems to protect patients from harm and an incident reporting culture. Learning from incidents was disseminated to staff.

• The radiology equipment was maintained to a high standard. All equipment was subject to a comprehensive preventative maintenance programme as well as daily and weekly quality assurance checks.

• Staff used evidence based care and treatment in line with national guidance and local policies

• Patients had timely access to appointments.

• The service sought the views of staff, patients, and stakeholders to drive improvement within the service.

• Policies and procedures reflected best practice and national guidance and there was oversight in relation to the management and development of policies and procedures.

However:

• Contrast media was not always recorded in ward patient records of care, in line with best practice.

• The resuscitation equipment was not always checked and record in line with the host site’s policy

Dr Nigel Acheson

Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals

Updated 29 March 2019

We rated this service good because it was safe, caring, responsive and well led. We do not rate effective for this type of service.