US EditionPublished • loading... • Updated
Private baby scan clinics putting expectant mothers at risk
- The Society of Radiographers warned high-street private baby-scan clinics in the UK are putting lives at risk with misdiagnoses and missed medical emergencies, the trade union said.
- Private clinics often offer reassurance or sexing scans before the routine 20-week NHS check, while under current rules anyone with an ultrasound machine can call themselves a sonographer and registration is voluntary, the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care recently warned.
- An eight- or nine-week private scan was misread as having no heartbeat and advised induced miscarriage, while hospital follow-up found a healthy nine-week pregnancy with a heartbeat plus examples of harms including blood clot misread as malformed foetus and missed ectopic pregnancies.
- In a statement the Department of Health and Social Care said it will carefully consider proposals from professional bodies and keeps regulation of healthcare professionals under review, while the Care Quality Commission said it remains concerned about some providers and will hold them to account.
- The Society of Radiographers is calling for sonographer to become a protected job title, warning that pop-up and high-street private clinics and banned NHS staff raise safety concerns.
Insights by Ground AI
18 Articles
18 Articles
High street baby scans deemed 'unsafe' due to risk of misdiagnoses and missed emergencies
The Society of Radiographers said there has been a proliferation of high street clinics offering pregnancy scans, with anyone with an ultrasound machine able to call themselves a sonographer
·Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
Read Full Article
Radiographers raise concerns about 'unsafe' nature of high street baby and pregnancy scans
Leading radiographers have warned that anyone with an ultrasound machine can call themselves a sonographer, but without the appropriate qualifications, there are risks to the mother and child.
·United Kingdom
Read Full Article
Coverage Details
Total News Sources18
Leaning Left6Leaning Right1Center5Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Left
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources lean Left
50% Left
L 50%
C 42%
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
