BSE Accreditation

The importance of BSE Departmental Accreditation is jointly recognised by the British Society of Heart Failure, the Heart Improvement Programme, the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society and the BSE in the publication Community Echocardiography for Heart Failure, where a consensus statement reads:

Organisation of [community echocardiography] services should be based around a BSE accredited department.

British Journal Cardiology 2004;11:399-402

Echotech is proud to hold Departmental Accreditation from the BSE. This was awarded in August 2008 following a comprehensive assessment of clinical and operational procedures. Furthermore, only a minority of Secondary Care Departments have achieved BSE Departmental Accreditation due to the stringent quality control requirements of the pass criteria.
This certification recognises Echotech’s robust approach to clinical audit and quality assurance.

BSE Guidelines and Recommendations

1. Minimum Dataset
All Echotech scans are full investigations and adhere to the BSE Education Committee recommendations for 'a minimum dataset for a standard adult transthoracic echocardiogram'. BSE Education Committee October 2005

2. Chamber & Valve Quantification
All reports adhere to strict reporting guidelines which have been devised to promote both the quality and consistency of all Echotech reports. The Echotech reporting guidelines include reference values detailed in the BSE guideline for chamber and valve quantification. 
BSE Education Committee May 2008

3. Community Echocardiography for Heart Failure
The Echotech service complies with key elements in the BSE guidance 'Community Echocardiography for Heart Failure' 
Br.JCardiol.2004;11:399-402

• Organisation of services should be based around a BSE accredited department 
• PCTs and Hospital Trusts must recognise that the needs for echocardiography extend beyond service delivery to include quality assurance, training and continuing education 
• There is no place for using portable systems in the absence of adequate training or outside an organised echocardiography service
• The BSE accredited department and community echocardiographer should have an electronic link for second opinions, quality assurance and clinical back-up