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Unregulated pregnancy scans putting lives in danger, experts say
High street clinics offering pregnancy scans could be putting unborn babies and their mothers in danger through a lack of properly trained staff, UK experts warn.
Hospital specialists report cases of missed health problems, misdiagnosed conditions and instances where women were wrongly told their babies had died or were malformed.
The Society of Radiographers (SoR) says high street clinics have grown rapidly in number, but anyone can buy an ultrasound machine and perform scans without qualifications.
Katie Thompson, a hospital sonographer and president of the SoR said: “I had a lady referred for a potential miscarriage from a clinic and when I scanned her they’d measured a bleed in the womb and completely missed a very early pregnancy sac with a baby inside it.”
Potentially, if they were at a private clinic that could offer a miscarriage service, they could have been given medication to bring on a miscarriage on a pregnancy that was actually not miscarrying.
The SoR says it has seen cases where private clinics wrongly diagnosed ectopic pregnancies — where the embryo implants outside the womb, which can be life-threatening — or missed actual ectopic pregnancies. Clinics have also misdiagnosed cervical problems and missed abnormalities in babies.
Elaine Brooks, a former hospital sonographer and Midlands regional officer for the SoR, said some people attended their 20-week NHS scan after having a private “sexing” scan a week or two earlier.
She said: “And then they come for their NHS scan and there’s quite a large abnormality that should have been picked up – something like spina bifida, polycystic kidneys or fluid-filled ventricles in the head – things that you wouldn’t expect to have developed in a week.”
Spina bifida is a birth defect where the spine and spinal cord do not form properly.
Polycystic kidneys involve multiple cysts in the kidneys, while fluid-filled brain ventricles can indicate hydrocephalus, a build-up of cerebrospinal fluid.
The SoR is calling for ‘sonographer’ to become a protected job title, meaning only qualified practitioners registered with a regulatory body could use it, similar to radiographer, dietitian or speech and language therapist.
Thompson said: “At the moment, absolutely anybody can go and buy an ultrasound machine and set up a practice without any qualifications whatsoever. And that has happened.
“There has been somebody that bought a machine and started scanning in her front room because after having a baby, she thought it’d be a nice thing to do.”
Thompson said it was possible for people struck off professional registers to continue offering ultrasound scans privately.
The SoR said the Health and Care Professions Council had evidence of a sonographer struck off the radiographers’ professional register for 10 years for sexual misconduct who was later employed in a private ultrasound clinic.
Thompson said the lack of a professional register made it difficult for patients to verify qualifications, but there were steps people could take.
These include checking how long a clinic has been operating, whether it is registered with and has been inspected by the Care Quality Commission, and seeking recommendations from midwives, GPs, NHS sonographers, friends or family.
“There are some excellent private clinics around that have fully qualified staff,” she said.
The Department of Health and Social Care noted that while sonography is not a legally regulated profession, sonographers can voluntarily join the Register of Clinical Technologists, allowing patients to check whether they have met professional standards.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “No parent should face the trauma of an incorrect diagnosis, and our sympathies are with families affected.
“We are committed to ensuring appropriate regulation for all health and care professions so patients can feel confident their care is in safe and qualified hands.
“The regulation of healthcare professionals is kept under review to ensure patient safety remains paramount.
“We will carefully consider any proposals from professional bodies regarding this.”
You have until Friday to nominate your femtech company of the year.
The award is one of 10 featuring at Femtech World’s third annual awards event, which attracts entries from across the UK, EU and Europe.
The Company of the Year Award is for companies that have demonstrated exceptional leadership in tackling women’s health needs through groundbreaking products, services or platforms that are shaping the future of global femtech.
If your company is driving innovation, impact and growth in this space, this award was made for you.
About the sponsor: Femovate
The category is backed by Femovate, the global femtech incubator using design to fuel innovation across every stage of a woman’s health journey, from proactive prevention through to personalised treatment.
Femovate has invested over US$2 million in design capital, working side-by-side with founding teams to bring market-ready solutions to life.
The startups it supports have collectively raised US$120 million, launched 30 products, and secured seven FDA clearances.
Why enter?
The Femtech World Awards are free to enter.
Winners and shortlisted companies receive extensive coverage across all Femtech World platforms.
Winners will also receive a trophy and the opportunity to be featured in an interview for the publication.
Find out more about the Femtech World Award and enter here by 4pm BST on Friday 17.
Women with osteoporosis may be more likely to carry a gene linked to Alzheimer’s, according to new research.
Scientists found that APOE4, the most common genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s, can weaken bone quality in women, even when standard scans appear normal.
The study, carried out by researchers at the Buck Institute for Research on Ageing in California, US, and UC San Francisco, suggests the gene may damage bone at a microscopic level long before any visible signs.
These changes can emerge as early as midlife and remain invisible to routine imaging tests used to assess bone strength.
The findings suggest a link between Alzheimer’s risk and skeletal health and could help pave the way for earlier detection of both conditions.
Professor Birgit Schilling, a senior author of the study, said: “What makes this finding so striking is that bone quality is being compromised at a molecular level that a standard bone scan simply will not catch.
“APOE4 is quietly disrupting the very cells responsible for keeping bone strong – and it is doing this specifically in females, which mirrors what we see with Alzheimer’s disease risk.”
Doctors have long observed that people with Alzheimer’s suffer higher rates of bone fractures, while osteoporosis in women is known to be one of the earliest predictors of the disease.
Now scientists believe they may have uncovered why.
Researchers led by Dr Charles Schurman carried out a detailed analysis of proteins in aged mouse bone and found that tissue was unusually rich in molecules linked to neurological disease, including those associated with Alzheimer’s.
In particular, long-lived bone cells known as osteocytes showed elevated levels of APOE, with levels twice as high in older female mice compared with younger or male animals.
Further experiments using genetically modified mice revealed that APOE4 had a strong and sex-specific impact on both bone and brain tissue.
The disruption at the protein level was even greater in bone than in the brain.
However, the bone structure itself appeared completely normal under scans.
Instead, the gene interfered with a key maintenance process inside bone cells, preventing them from repairing microscopic channels that keep bones strong and resilient.
When this process breaks down, bones become more fragile even if they look healthy on standard imaging.
These results suggest bone cells could potentially act as early biological warning signs of cognitive decline in women carrying APOE4.
Professor Lisa Ellerby, another senior author, said: “We think targeting these cells may open a new front in preserving bone quality in this population.”
Experts say the findings highlight the need to view the body as an interconnected system rather than treating diseases in isolation.
Dementia, of which Alzheimer’s is the most common form, remains one of the UK’s biggest health challenges.
Around 900,000 people are currently living with the condition, a figure expected to rise to 1.6 million by 2040.
It is already the leading cause of death, responsible for more than 74,000 deaths each year.
Health secretary Wes Streeting has relaunched England’s women’s health strategy, vowing to stop women being “gaslit” by doctors.
Speaking before publication of the renewed strategy, the health secretary said the NHS was “failing women” and set out measures to help them access the healthcare they need.
The government said the strategy would include a new standard of care to ensure women were offered pain relief for invasive procedures, such as fitting a contraceptive coil and hysteroscopies.
Feedback would be directly linked to provider funding through a new trial, giving women more power to affect change if they have a poor experience.
Action would also be taken to ensure women no longer face long waits for diagnoses for conditions such as endometriosis, which can take a decade to diagnose.
Streeting said: “[Women] have for so long been let down by a healthcare system that too often gaslights women, treating their pain as an inconvenience and their symptoms as an overreaction.
“Whether it’s being passed from one appointment to another for conditions like endometriosis and fibroids, or a lack of proper pain relief during invasive procedures, through to having to navigate symptoms for years before receiving a diagnosis, it’s clear the system is failing women.
“Women’s voices must be central to delivering effective, respectful and empathetic care. We need to hit medical misogyny where it hurts – the wallet.
“Today’s renewed strategy will tackle the issues women face every day and ensure no woman is left fighting to be heard.”
A report last month by the women and equalities committee found that gynaecological and menstrual health had not been “sufficiently prioritised” by the government.
MPs said parts of the 10-year women’s health strategy, launched in 2022 by the Conservatives, were at risk of being scaled back or discontinued under wider changes to the NHS.
These included initiatives that had reduced waiting lists and improved women’s access to healthcare, such as women’s health hubs.
Sarah Owen, chair of the committee and a Labour MP, said: “This would be a disaster for girls’ and women’s menstrual healthcare, when it is in dire need of more support.
“It is a national scandal that nearly half a million women are on hospital gynaecology waiting lists when there are effective treatments that could be administered in primary and community care, if only they could access them.”
The report said women faced “medical misogyny” and were left to “suck it up” and suffer in pain for years because of a lack of awareness of women’s health conditions.
A redesign of clinical pathways for some women’s health issues will aim to speed up diagnosis and treatment, and there will be a review of support for families who experience repeated baby loss.
The government also promised a “single referral point” to ensure women were directed to the right place the first time they sought help.
Dr Sue Mann, NHS England’s women’s health director, said too many women were dismissed for “serious symptoms” that affected every part of their lives.
“The renewed women’s health strategy will build significantly on the work the NHS has been doing to ensure women are heard and get the specialist care they need,” she said.
Women’s health groups cautiously welcomed the renewed strategy. Emma Cox, chief executive of Endometriosis UK, said decisive action would be vital to improve women’s healthcare in England.
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