Archived: Thame Ambulance Station - Main Hub

Updated 23 December 2022

Thame Ambulance Station – Main Hub is operated by Phoenix Response Services Limited and is an independent ambulance service. The service provides an Emergency and Urgent Care (EUC) service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The service first registered with Care Quality Commission (CQC) in 2021. Thame Ambulance Station – Main Hub became a registered location with CQC in September 2022 but had been in operation from 2021 as a satellite location. The location is registered with CQC to provide the following regulated activities:

• Transport Services, triage and medical advice provided remotely
• Treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

The service has 2 ambulance stations, one based in Thame, Oxfordshire and another based in Rainham, Kent. At the time of the inspection, the service had a contract to provide 9 shifts per day with 1 NHS ambulance trust from the Thame ambulance station. The Rainham location was used as a head office. The service was in tender with another trust and planned to provide Emergency and Urgent Care (EUC) services from the Rainham location in the future.

The service has 16 frontline ambulances, 2 blue light training vehicles and 1 car which is used by mangers to commute between the 2 locations. The service does not have specialist vehicles, such as bariatric vehicles or high dependency vehicles. The service only provides a EUC service and does not provide any medical support to events or a Patient Transport Service.

The service has had a registered manager since it first registered with CQC in 2021. A registered manager is a person who has registered with CQC to manage the service. They have a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

This was the first time the service had been inspected.

Updated 23 December 2022

This was the first time the service had been inspected. We rated it as good because:

• 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. Staff assessed risks to patients, acted on them and kept good care records. They managed medicines well. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them. Staff collected safety information and used it to improve the service.
• Staff provided good care and treatment and gave patients pain relief when they needed it. The service met agreed response times. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients, advised them on how to lead healthier lives, supported them to make decisions about their care, and had access to good information.
• 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 have to wait too long for treatment.
• Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and supported staff to develop their skills. 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 and the community to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services continually.

However:

• Leaders did not have reliable systems and processes in place for them to have a good oversight on safeguarding referrals.
• Not all staff had received clinical appraisals of their work, so managers could not be assured that they were competent. Supervision was not available to all staff.
• Feedback from service users was not being collected and collated effectively.
• Systems for assessing, monitoring and improving the quality of the service were not effectively and robustly integrated.

Updated 23 December 2022