AN ultrasound clinic in Bolton has been slammed for not training staff in how to protect patients from harm and leaving them at risk of infection.

A clinic providing baby scans has been given an overall Requires Improvement grade amid concerns over patient safety.

Baby Ultrasound Clinic Limited in Church Bank was inspected by the Care Quality Commission early this year and the report has revealed criticism of two key aspects of the clinic’s operation — safety and leadership.

The service did not ensure that clinic staff, who have performed more than 2,500 scans for pregnant women in the last year, received appropriate safeguarding training.

The CQC report stated: “Staff had not received training in safeguarding of children despite the service offering scans to young adults aged 16 and over.

"The service did not have a safeguarding children’s policy.”

The inspection found that “not all staff understood how to protect patients from abuse”, with the report reading: “Staff told us that they would speak to the manager if they were alerted to a safeguarding incident.

"However, one member of staff could not describe what a safeguarding incident was.

"Therefore, we were not assured that the safeguarding training provided for staff was sufficient to protect service users from abuse.”

The privately operated clinic opened in 2015 and accepts patients from both in the Bolton area and beyond.

The clinic provides 2D, 3D and 4D keepsake scans and gender scans, and does not provide diagnostic scans.

But concerns were raised over the cleanliness of the premises, with the report adding that “the service did not always control infection risk well”.

It said: “We observed the radiographer putting gloves on prior to scanning a woman, but they did not wash their hands or use hand gel either before or after. We observed the patient bed was covered in dust and the cover which was placed on top was marked.”

Two other aspects of the inspection, judging whether the services were responsive and caring, received Good grades and the manager of the clinic, Alisha Kiran Ali, said that the concerns which sparked Requires Improvement grades have now been dealt with.

Ms Ali said: “We work very hard to ensure that our clinics are to the highest standards possible, regrettably a few concerns have been picked up by the CQC on their most recent inspection.

“We are very grateful for this as it allows us to make our service even better. All changes have already been implemented.”