THE Vascular Ultrasound service based at the Royal Oldham Hospital has received an overall "good" rating following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission.

The service, opened in 1999, is operated by Independent Vascular Services Ltd and delivers vascular investigations to NHS trusts and independent hospitals.

There are eight locations across the North West, with the Oldham facility, including three scan rooms, office and a patient waiting area, launching in 2001.

The provider carries diagnostics and screening. It delivered 6,934 scans from April, 2018 to March, 2019 and was inspected on July 31, this year.

As well as the overall "good" rating, its was also judged to be "good" in five key areas of safety, effectiveness, quality of care, responsiveness and leadership.

The CQC report said the staff at the unit received and kept up to date with their mandatory training.

They also understood how to protect patients from abuse and the service worked well with other agencies to that effect.

Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

The service controlled infection well and staff used equipment and control measures to protect patients, themselves and others from infection. They kept equipment and the premises visibly clean ad managed clinical waste well.

Service staff had enough people with the right qualifications and experience to provide the right care and treatment.

They kept detailed records of patients' care and treatment. Records were clear, up to date, stored securely and easily available to all staff providing care.

The report goes on: "The service managed patient safety incidents well and recognised incidents and near misses and reported them appropriately.

"Managers investigated incidents and shared lessons learned with the whole team and the wider service.

"When things went wrong, staff apologised and gave patients honest information and suitable support. managers ensured that actions from patient safety alerts were implemented and monitored...

"Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity and took account of their individual needs."

Leaders and teams used systems to manage performance effectively.