BSE Departmental Accreditation

Following a detailed assessment of Echotech’s clinical and service management specifications, the British Society of Echocardiography has awarded Echotech with standard departmental accreditation.

The assessment pass criteria are as follows:

Clinical head has at least one PA dedicated to echo YES
Technical head spends 5 or more sessions in echocardiographic activities (including management or quality control) YES
Agreed minimum standards for studies YES
Patient information leaflet available including arrangements for chaperones YES
List of indications for echo published internally YES
Both clinical and technical heads of echocardiography YES
Triaging of requests YES
Report database YES
System of review for uncertain echocardiograms YES
System of alerts for important pathology found at echocardiography YES
Provision for continuing education YES
Studies archived. Reports written that day YES
Most machines have 2nd harmonic imaging YES
All machines have colour and stand-alone Doppler YES
No machine in regular use upgraded more than 10 years ago YES
30-40 minutes allowed per standard study and up to 1 hour for a complex study YES
All sonographers reporting studies Band 6 or higher YES
Data protection act applied YES
Manual handling policy implemented YES
Rooms uncluttered and of adequate size YES
Appropriate provision of patient facilities YES

Echotech will only recruit BSE accredited cardiac physiologists, unless the competency of the echocardiographer is well known within the cardiac network in question.

To promote both the quality and consistency of reports, all Echotech cardiac physiologists are required to adhere to the BSE Education Committee recommendations for

'a minimum dataset for a standard adult transthoracic echocardiogram'.

BSE Education Committee October 2005.

The Echotech TTE reporting guidelines include reference values detailed in the BSE guideline for chamber and valve quantification. BSE Education Committee May 2008.

The BSE have produced a consensus statement following the first Echotech community echo workshop, for which the Echotech service complies with a number of key elements.

BSE Community Echo for Heart Failure - Consensus Statement

Some key quotes:

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