Archived: Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine

Updated 8 February 2022

The Wolfson Institute of Preventative Medicine is an independent medical laboratory which specialises in antenatal screening tests. It is operated by the Queen Mary, University of London Foundation and had moved premises to share space with another laboratory on the university campus. The service had contracts with over 40 NHS trusts to carry out their antenatal testing and also carried out a small amount of private work, seeing an average of one patient a week on site to test.

The service had no registered manager in post at the time of inspection, however there was an application with CQC’s registration team.

The service was last inspected by CQC in 2013, under our previous methodology and was not rated.

Laboratory tests funded by the NHS must be accredited against a set of standards called ISO 15189. The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is recognised by the government as the sole national accreditation body and once tests are accredited, there are annual surveillance activities and full re-assessment every 4th year. The service was awaiting an assessment following their relocation, but remained accredited, these aspects were not inspected.

In addition, all laboratories must participate in an external quality assurance (EQA) scheme that advises providers of their quality assurance results and how their results compare with other laboratories. This aspect of the service was not inspected.

Updated 8 February 2022

We did not rate this service. This is because the CQC does not apply a rating to independent laboratory services. We found:

• The service had enough laboratory staff to provide the right level of service and provided some training in key skills. The service controlled infection risk and managed cross contamination well. Staff kept good records. The service managed safety incidents and learned lessons from them.
• Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients and ensured they had access to good information. Key services were available as required to support timely care.
• Staff spoke to patients to help them understand the tests and the results and were trained to provide emotional support to patients and their families.
• The service was planned to meet the needs of local people and people could access the service when they needed it. They took account of people’s physical individual needs.
• The service had a plan for the future. Staff felt valued and were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. The service engaged with the NHS trusts they supported, and all staff were committed to improving services for the future.

However:

• The service lacked sufficient management capacity and were not able to provide all their training records for staff. There were some key skills that staff were not offered training in.
• Managers did not keep accessible records of staff competencies.
• The service did not provide support for patients whose first language was not spoken English and did not make it clear to people how to give feedback.
• Leaders ran services using ineffective governance processes and poor quality management systems and were not routinely updating all documents clearly, this was exacerbated by a lack of capacity due to some management roles being unfilled for months. Staff did not have appraisals regularly and so lacked formal opportunities to request further training.

Updated 8 February 2022

We did not rate this service. This is because the CQC does not apply a rating to independent laboratory services. See the overall summary above for what we found.