Head Office

Updated 8 May 2023

The service was managed by SSC Secure Transport Ltd. This service provided secure transport for patients with mental health conditions including patients detained under the Mental Health Act. The service collected patients from their own homes, hospitals, and custodial settings. They transported patients to hospitals or other facilities to receive treatment for their mental health conditions.

The provider was registered on 6 October 2020 to carry out the regulated activity ‘transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely’.

The service had a registered manager in the post at the time of our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. They have legal responsibilities for meeting the requirements set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

The provider does not transport bariatric patients, palliative patients requiring medical support or patients with complex medical needs that required nursing care.

This was our first inspection of the service since it was registered.

Updated 8 May 2023

We inspected Head Office using our comprehensive methodology on 8 February 2023. It is the first time we rated this service. We rated it as requires improvement because:

• The service did not keep detailed records of patients’ care and treatment including information related to journey booking, individual risks assessments, and physical interventions.
• The service did not formally review individual risks at the time when transport was booked.
• The service had not developed detailed acceptance criteria or identified possible exclusions that might prevent them from service provision.
• The service could not demonstrate vehicle safety checks were undertaken regularly as set by internal processes.

However:

• The service had enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe. Staff had training in key skills, understood how to protect patients from abuse, and managed safety well. The service controlled infection risk well. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them.
• Staff provided good care and treatment. The service met agreed response times. Managers made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients. They treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and took account of their individual needs.
• The service planned care to meet the needs of local people took account of patients' individual needs and made it easy for people to give feedback. People could access the service when they needed it and did not experience transport delays.
• Leaders ran services well. Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities. The service engaged well with patients to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services.

We rated this service as requires improvement overall. The service was rated requires improvement for safe and well led domains and good for effective and responsive. We did not rate the caring domain as we did not have sufficient evidence to rate it.

Updated 8 May 2023

• The service did not keep detailed records of patients’ care and treatment including information related to journey booking, individual risks assessments, and physical interventions. They did not keep a sufficiently detailed record of physical health observations undertaken during and after manual restraint.
• The service did not formally review individual risks at the time when transport was booked. The service had not developed detailed acceptance criteria or identified possible exclusions that might prevent them from service provision.
• The service did not develop a full set of key performance indicators that could be used to monitor service quality and drive improvements.
• The service could not demonstrate vehicle safety checks were undertaken regularly as set by internal processes.

However:

• The service had enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe. Staff had training in key skills, understood how to protect patients from abuse, and managed safety well. The service controlled infection risk well. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them.
• Staff provided good care and treatment. The service met agreed response times. Managers made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients. They treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and took account of their individual needs.
• The service planned care to meet the needs of local people took account of patients' individual needs and made it easy for people to give feedback. People could access the service when they needed it and did not experience transport delays.
• Leaders ran services well. Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities. The service engaged well with patients to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services.