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1/18 #ultrasound #sonographer
There is a wide range of problems with the services offered by these companies. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-54527595
1/18 #ultrasound #sonographer
There is a wide range of problems with the services offered by these companies. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-54527595
2/18 The people doing the scan. As shown in the film, there is no regulation of ultrasound and sonographer is not a protected title. Anyone can buy an ultrasound machine and call themselves a sonographer.
3/18 Even if companies are employing sonographers who hold registration in their original professions (most commonly @HCPC radiographers & @nmcnews midwives & nurses), without regulation there is no straightforward way for the public to know if their 'sonographer' is qualified
4/18'Wellbeing scans'. Wellbeing is a non specific term which gives no information about what precisely is being looked for. Tempting though - just checking all is well.
It is dangerous. Ultrasound should only be carried to answer a specific clinical question - for example,
It is dangerous. Ultrasound should only be carried to answer a specific clinical question - for example,
5/18 if a midwife thinks that a baby is not growing properly they will refer the woman for an ultrasound for that specific reason.
The 'wellbeing' reports are at best a fig leaf to cover the use of ultrasound for social and commercial reasons
The 'wellbeing' reports are at best a fig leaf to cover the use of ultrasound for social and commercial reasons
6/18 on on an ad hoc basis based on the ability of the woman to pay for the service.
Why is this a problem?
Well, a test is only of any use if you know what you are going to do with the result.
In a hospital scan, if the answer to the question 'is this baby small?' is yes
Why is this a problem?
Well, a test is only of any use if you know what you are going to do with the result.
In a hospital scan, if the answer to the question 'is this baby small?' is yes
7/18 there is an established referral pathway to ensure the woman gets the correct care. If the commercial 'wellbeing' scan turns out to show something wrong there is no robust easily accessible pathway to access the correct care.
8/18 False reassurance. The NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme anomaly scan is done between 18 weeks and 20 weeks 6 days because that is the time when the fetus is most easily examined and if there is a problem there is time
9/18 for follow up diagnostic tests and a decision to be made about termination before 24 weeks. A private scan for gender or 'reassurance' before the NHS anomaly scan (between 18 and 20 weeks 6 days) may look fine but some abnormalities
10/18 are not going to be detected until later in the pregnancy. This is why the 18 - 20+ week window was chosen. Most sonographers will have experienced telling a woman who has received this type of false reassurance that they have identified an abnormality at anomaly scan.
11/18 The social and commercial expectations of ultrasound in pregnancy. These are raised & reinforced by these companies & introduce unnecessary risks to the NHS antenatal scans. Sonographers doing screening & diagnostic scans in NHS antenatal services are dealing with
12/18 unreasonable and inappropriate expectations from some families, not about quality and accuracy which are central to the professional practice of ultrasound but about experience and pictures/videos. Ultrasound needs extremely high levels of concentration and the distraction
13/18increases the pressure of an already challenging job, making error more likely.
14/18 Entertainment ultrasound is only one place where unqualified unregulated individuals scan. Scans in termination clinics are frequently done by staff unqualified in ultrasound. As a clinical sonographer in early pregnancy dealing with the misdiagnoses in termination clinics
15/18 is common place. As a medico legal expert witness I have reported on such mistakes and how they led to devastating results.
16/18 All women eligible for NHS antenatal care are offered 2 screening scans, the first around 12 weeks when the combined screening test for 3 chromosomal anomalies including Down's syndrome is offered, the second between 18-20 weeks 6 days to check for specific anomalies.
17/18 Women with high risk pregnancies, who develop problems in pregnancy or who have abnormal results from screening will have more scans. These are diagnostic scans and their timing is based on the clinical need.
18/18 Recreational ultrasound offered by the private clinics either replicate services already provided free at the point of use by the NHS or are non-evidence based non-clinically indicated scans accessed on an ad hoc basis by a self-selecting population.
End.
End.
18a/18
Addendum
There are qualified #sonographers who have no regulatory home. These may be overseas qualified, individuals from non regulated backgrounds or the small but growing number of UK BSc qualified sonographers. None of my comments above refer to these groups.
Addendum
There are qualified #sonographers who have no regulatory home. These may be overseas qualified, individuals from non regulated backgrounds or the small but growing number of UK BSc qualified sonographers. None of my comments above refer to these groups.
18b. (Addendum part 2!)
There is more. Abnormalities are found in these scans. The scans are not diagnostic or screening but random case finding. Too much medicine. (Not that this is medicine)
@mgtmccartney https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/uk-54527595#click=https://t.co/Ai8TZf2Cd7
There is more. Abnormalities are found in these scans. The scans are not diagnostic or screening but random case finding. Too much medicine. (Not that this is medicine)
@mgtmccartney https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/uk-54527595#click=https://t.co/Ai8TZf2Cd7
