Ambu-Kare UK - Westwood Farm is operated by Ambu-Kare (UK) Limited. The service provides a patient transport service to a local NHS trust and occasional private transfers.
We inspected this service using our comprehensive inspection methodology. We carried out the announced part of the inspection on 24 September 2018.
To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we ask the same five questions of all services: are they safe, effective, caring, responsive to people's needs, and well-led?
Throughout the inspection, we took account of what people told us and how the provider understood and complied with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
The main service provided by this service was non-emergency patient transport services (PTS)
We found the following areas of good practice:
- The service maintained up to date policies and procedures, this was an improvement from our last inspection.
- The service had implemented a risk register, and reviewed this regularly, this was an improvement from our last inspection.
- Staff had received the necessary pre-employment and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.
- Staff we spoke with during our inspection knew how to recognise and refer safeguarding concerns and had access to up to date policies for safeguarding adults and children.
- Vehicles we inspected were clean and well maintained and there were processes in place to ensure the cleanliness of the vehicles and equipment.
- Patient feedback was positive, staff we spoke with showed caring attitudes in relation to meeting the needs of service users and were passionate about their role in the service.
However, we also found the following issues that the service provider needs to improve:
- The service had no formal process or flow chart for staff to follow if a patient’s condition should deteriorate during a journey.
- Oxygen bottles were not secured within the ambulance station and there was no formal policy for its use or storage within the service. We spoke to the provider on the 26 September 2018 who confirmed that from 1 October 2018 they will no longer provide transfers where patients require oxygen and arranged for safe disposal of the existing oxygen stock.
- We found six consumable items out of date, a broken lid on a contaminated waste bin and no hand sanitizer on the vehicles we inspected. The provider acted to remedy these at the time of our inspection.
Following this inspection, we told the provider that it should make other improvements, even though a regulation had not been breached, to help the service improve.
Professor Ted Baker
Chief Inspector of Hospitals