Quality & Accreditations Daniel June 8, 2022

Quality & Accreditations

Quality sits at the very heart of everything we do at 4ways.

Our clinical governance framework is founded upon six principles that provide a structured approach to ensure the clinical effectiveness, safety and patient experience of our services.

Clinical Leadership

All of our services are supported by robust clinical and IT governance principles. These have been at the heart of our operational approach since the business began in 2005. 

Culturally, 4ways is a clinically led organisation and have always focused on quality reporting with every team member embracing the ideals and processes of quality improvement. 

We’re very proud of this commitment to quality and can demonstrate our continuous improvement over time, driven by strong clinical leadership and recognised by our numerous accreditations.

Radiologist Expertise

All 4ways reporting is undertaken by FRCR UK Consultant Radiologists who are qualified doctors with at least 2 years postgraduate experience followed by 5 years accredited training within the NHS. All have been listed on the GMC specialist register in Radiology for at least 2 years.

Our radiologists have held substantive NHS posts, meaning they understand the best practices in place within our NHS hospitals and Trusts. Importantly, it means they have experience in acute services too, meaning when urgent care is required, our radiologists know exactly what our trusts expectations are of them.

When joining 4ways, radiologists are engaged through a rigorous process, led by our Medical Director Ben Timmis and Clinical Leads. We use NHS revalidation evidence to ensure all of our radiologist remain of the highest quality. We support their professional development through CPD accredited activities, such as our Quality Assurance meetings and Case of the Month resources.

Audit

Radiologist Audit

The 4ways team, led by our Medical Director and CEO, meet on a weekly basis to review the quality of the reporting output being made by our radiologists.
In line with our radiologist output monitoring policy, we typically audit up to 10% of cross sectional reports, and up to 2% of plain film reports. Across a 12 month reporting period, all radiologists will be subject to audit on an ongoing basis in line with the following audit rates:

– By modality
– By service line
– By client
– By individual radiologist

Should we identify error rates, we implement our internal policies for breeches in individual performance output. This includes taking remedial action such as providing further training according to the significance of the error rate.

Client Audit

Assuring the quality of reporting output is actioned by 4ways’ established and extensive audit programme. Clinical audit underpins our statutory duties, compliance with sector standard (QSI), our quality assurance for clients and our market reputation. It also maximises the learning potential for our network radiologists and improves reporting precision.

We have an outstanding track record of measuring and reporting our clinical performance through our stand alone audit. 4ways is able to provide the most in-depth review and analysis of radiological reporting in the UK.

We audit up to 10% of cross sectional reports and up to 2% of all plain film reports for all work undertaken:
– By modality,
– By service line,
– By client,
– By individual radiologist.

Complaint Handling

We value and record all complaints and follow our complaints policy which identifies:

  • The type of complaint
  • The relevant process for responding to a complaint dependant on type
  • The timeframes for each type of response

    We acknowledge all complaints and discrepancies within one working day. We investigate thoroughly and provide detailed feedback, including the actions we have taken to improve our systems. We provide a full response within NHS expected timeframes.

    At 4ways we recognise the impact good feedback has for our reporting Radiologists and staff, and encourage our clients to share any positive experiences they have when interacting with 4ways.

    We report all complaints, discrepancies and compliments back to our Leadership Team, Board, and accreditors during assessment.

    Overall trends will be analysed by the Quality Team, to inform our processes and programme of continual improvement, such as our CPD accredited learning resources for 4ways radiologists.

Continuous Improvement

4ways has a dedicated Quality and Clinical Governance team, who are responsible for recording and managing incidents, complaints or discrepancies highlighted through our internal audit or by clients.

All discrepancies are logged on our bespoke Client Issues Register, which ensures we keep an accurate record for accessible reference.

Our Urgent Findings Escalation Policy follows RCR guidance and contains clear processes for escalation and notification of urgent and unexpected findings.

4ways holds 3 Quality Assurance (QA) meetings a year which are attended by senior clinical leadership, our CEO and our consultant radiologists. Discrepancies, interesting cases and positive feedback contributing to continual learning and improvement in their reporting output.

Information Governance

Information Security and Governance are core pillars of our overall business protocols, and are fully embedded in all areas of the organisation. 4ways has an IG Forum group, comprising of Caldicott Guardian, DPO, IG Lead/SIRO, IAA and ISMS 27001 representatives. The IG forum is responsible for setting policy and procedures within 4ways, and to manage staff awareness and training. All staff irrespective of role within the organisation receives training during their HR induction during their onboarding process. They also receive annual IG training and assessment in line with NHS DSPT. 4ways utilises the services of external Cyber Security specialists for consultancy on cyber awareness, system protection, annual penetration testing and updates to real world threats and vulnerabilities. We are Cyber Essentials Plus certified, with the advantage of no patient data traveling outside of the UK, as all of our Radiologists are based in the UK.
4ways has the highest standards of quality and clinical governance.
All our accreditations demonstrate our commitment to quality. We have policies and procedures in place across the whole organisation that are continually reviewed and improved upon.

ISO9001

ISO9001 ensures our operational procedures and workflows are robust, appropriate, and ensure optimal delivery of service to our clients.

ISO 27001

ISO 27001 certifies that the management system of 4ways Healthcare Ltd has been audited and found in accordance with the requirements of the management system standards detailed below.

QSI - Quality Standards For Imaging

4ways was the first teleradiology reporting service to obtain accreditation when it was previously known as ISAS. In addition, 4ways were proud to become the first organisation to transition and achieve the new QSI 2021 standard, demonstrating our position as a leading quality service provider.

Care Quality Commission

4ways has been CQC registered since 2011 the CQC currently operates a ‘Direct Monitoring Approach’, under which 4ways is deemed to provide a safe and effective service with our risk level reduced to the lowest ‘Band 1’ level, following the most recent monitoring call in December 2021.

ICO Registered

4ways Healthcare Ltd is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office. 

Data Security Protection Toolkit

Our certification reinforces our commitment to data protection and quality of service provision. All members of 4ways staff undergo an annual assessment and training programme.

Cyber Essentials Plus Certification

We are certified by Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essential Plus as part of the UK Government’s National Cyber Security Strategy. It strengthens our commitment to keep patient data secure and gives confidence that we are protected against common cyber threats.

General Medical Council and Royal College of Radiologists

All radiologist that provide their services for 4ways must be on the GMC specialist register for Clinical Radiology. All hold fellowship of the Royal College of Radiologists.

> Good medical practice guidance

CPD Certified

We award members of the 4ways Radiologist panel Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points for participating in a variety of activities 4ways hosts, such as:

Attendance to our Quality Assurance meetings that take place three times a year

Case of the Month activities

Access the STATdx for learning activities and care reviews

Contact us

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01442 260 322