Warning over dangerous high street baby scans

The Society of Radiographers (SoR) has warned that some high street clinics are putting lives at risk by allowing unqualified non-specialists to scan babies.

The union said its members had seen examples of pregnant women being misdiagnosed with serious health problems and given dangerous advice.

Other expectant mothers were sent to hospital after being told an abnormality meant they had to terminate the pregnancy to find out their baby was completely healthy.

There are fears that anyone using an ultrasound machine could call themselves a sonographer and offer the service, often sold as reassurance, souvenirs or gender screening before a routine 20-week NHS check.

“A lady once applied to us. [to hospital] “someone from a private clinic who is eight or nine weeks pregnant,” says Elaine Brooks, Midlands area manager at SoR.

“The sonographer at the private clinic said there was no heartbeat and the baby was very, very disabled, so they sent her for an abortion.

“We started scanning the woman in tears and the scan clearly showed a beautiful nine weeks of pregnancy with a heartbeat. She was absolutely fine.”

A. BBC investigation in 2020 revealed similar failures to diagnose serious medical problems during private baby screenings.

Reports have been heard of women who were bleeding and in pain being admitted to scans rather than being told to see their doctor.

The union, which is also a professional body for medical imaging, says it has seen other examples of poor practice from some private clinics:

• Missing important fetal abnormalities such as spina bifida or polycystic kidneys
• Ectopic pregnancies, in which the fertilized egg implants itself outside the uterus and goes undiagnosed or is misdiagnosed
• A radiographer who continued to work as a private sonographer despite being banned from working in the NHS and dismissed for sexual harassment

SoR chief executive Katie Thompson said there were some “really great” private services offering checks with appropriately trained staff, but she was concerned about the growth of pop-up clinics selling souvenir images or scans to reveal the baby’s gender, particularly in shopping centers and high streets.

He said he was aware of another case in which a private scan taken late in pregnancy did not record the baby still recumbent or lying low in the uterus. The mother was not immediately referred to the NHS and the baby later died.

The SoR now calls for sonographer to be a protected job title in the UK in the same way as a dietitian, podiatrist, art therapist or radiographer.

This means that only those who are suitably qualified and registered with a regulatory body will be allowed to use this job description.

Many private sonographers are already qualified midwives or radiographers and accredited training courses are also available, but this is not currently a legal requirement.

Individual sonographers may also decide to participate. Registration of Clinical TechnologistsThe public can then search to see if certain standards are being met, but participation is again voluntary.

The Health and Social Care Professional Standards Authority recently carried out a public interest test on this register and wrote to the government saying “the risks appear high enough” that it should consider whether stronger regulation of sonographers is needed.

The Care Quality Commission, which oversees private clinics, said many were providing good quality care but was “concerned that some were not” regarding staff training, consent policies and procedures for dealing with a rise in unusual findings.

If concerns are identified in inspections, it will “hold providers accountable and make clear that action is necessary to ensure staff are adequately trained,” he said.

In a statement, the Ministry of Health said that the safety of patients is paramount and that the regulations of all healthcare professionals are being reviewed.

“We will carefully consider any proposals from professional bodies regarding this,” a spokesman added.