Updated 3 July 2023
Pioneer House, also known as Cheshire Tongue Tie Clinic, is operated by Mrs Jennifer Johnson. The tongue tie service is one of the services provided by Cheshire Infant Feeding and Baby Support. Pioneer House is registered with CQC to provide the regulated activity of surgical procedures. Tongue tie division will also be offered in the client’s own home if it is more convenient for them. The registered manager is a sole trader who provides the regulated activity. The tongue tie practitioner is Jennifer Johnson, an approved registered independent midwife with a master’s level qualification in tongue tie division, who offers private tongue-tie services to the community in Cheshire and the surrounding areas.
Some babies are born with the condition tongue-tie, which has the medical name ankyloglossia. The fold of skin under the tongue that connects to the tongue to the bottom of the mouth is shorter than usual, which restricts the movement of the tongue. This can cause problems with breastfeeding or bottle-fed babies and the baby may not gain weight at the normal rate. Some babies require a surgical intervention to release the tongue, which is known as a frenulotomy or frenotomy. Frenulotomy services may be offered by the NHS or independent healthcare professionals such as doctors, dentists or midwives.
The provider is qualified to provide frenulotomy divisions for babies up to the age of one year, however the provider only treats babies up to and including 6 months of age. Babies above 6 months or with complex anatomy that are not safe to treated in a home setting are referred to ENT services.
There are two ways to practice as a tongue tie specialist, to provide the surgery alone, or with the additional provision of feeding support. The practitioner considered it particularly important to look at the whole picture by getting to the root cause of the issue and works very closely with a lactation consultant.
Whilst the clinician is a sole provider the lactation consultant assists them by supporting the baby's head during the procedure, they have no other active role in providing this regulated activity. This further safeguards the quality of the service that is offered by the provider.
This was the first CQC inspection since registration in 2019.