G4S Patient Transport Services Lordswood

On this page

• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

We looked for evidence that patients were treated with kindness, empathy and compassion. We assessed the levels of patient’s privacy and dignity afforded to patients. We asked patients to tell us about their experiences, if they were respected, if they understood that they and their experience of how they were treated and supported mattered. We also looked for evidence that every effort was made to take patient’s wishes into account and respect their choices, to achieve the best possible outcomes for them.

The service worked with patients and stakeholders to deliver good care by understanding and meeting patients’ needs in a safe and supportive way, enabling them to do what mattered most. Staff responded positively to patients’ communication, including distress, while upholding their rights and dignity. Staff treated patients with kindness, compassion and respect. They maintained patients’ privacy, and considered their views, wishes and choices consistently, to achieve positive outcomes.

This is the first assessment for this service. This key question has been rated good with an element of outstanding for workforce wellbeing and enablement. This meant patients were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

We have not awarded this service a score for Caring.

Find out about when we will not publish a key question score and what we look at when we assess Caring.

The evidence showed a good standard. The service was good at treating patient with kindness, empathy and compassion and in how they respected patients’ privacy and dignity. Staff always treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and took account of their individual needs. Staff introduced themselves to patients and explained their role. They were discreet and responsive when supporting patients. Staff took their time to interact with patients and those close to them in a respectful and considerate way. Patients were covered when minimally dressed, and staff ensured they were suitably warm and comfortable for the journeys they were taking.

Patients who were particularly anxious, who were very young or who had cognitive impairment were able to have someone familiar with them. Patients said staff treated them well and with kindness.

Staff followed policy to keep patient care and treatment confidential.

Staff went above and beyond to provide care and support. When dropping patients’ home, they helped them inside and make sure that they had access to electricity, and refreshments. If staff felt that patients needed support with their living conditions, had reduced mobility, or had additional needs, they raised a care and support concern or a safeguarding referral with their managers.

Leaders gave clear examples of how staff escalated patient concerns and how the service worked with the NHS trust that commissioned the patient journey, to support patients who were frequently conveyed. One example, led to a patient being provided with additional clothing and equipment for their journey. Some patients were identified as needing mental health assessments and the service worked with third parties to ensure the patients’ needs were met.

Feedback included:“The man and woman who brought me home were phenomenal and so helpful. They knew I was in a lot of pain and went out their way to be nice and reassure me.” Another service user stated “The admiration I have for this service is incomparable. A lifeline for some individuals. I will always recommend and support it.”

The evidence showed a good standard. The service treated patients as individuals and made sure patients’ care, support and treatment met patients’ needs and preferences. Staff took account of patients’ strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

Staff understood and respected the personal, cultural, social, and religious needs of patients and how these may relate to their care. For example, patients could request single-sex crews.

Patients told us they were treated as individuals, and staff mostly enabled their needs to be met on time, where this depended on timely transport arrangements.

The service gathered feedback through patient surveys and responded to concerns. We reviewed 10 patient feedback reviews collected by the service. Patients described staff as “kind”, ”wonderful”, ”friendly”, ”compassionate”, and ”first class”. Some patients contacted the service specifically to provide positive feedback about the support they received.

The evidence showed a good standard. The service promoted patient’s independence, so patient knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

Staff encouraged patients to be as independent as possible when moving to and from vehicles.

Staff used aids and available equipment to support patients’ independence, such as wheelchairs, hoists, handrails and stretchers. Staff also supported patients to use familiar items of equipment, such as walking sticks, and encouraged them to bring any belongings they needed, for example, their spectacles.

The evidence showed a good standard. Staff listened to and understood patients’ needs, views and wishes. Staff responded to patients’ needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress.

Staff supported patients with their mobility and intervened when patients were uncomfortable, uncovered or distressed. Staff made sure patients were well cared for during transfer between locations, although it was difficult to attend to all needs due to the rain.

Staff could access specialist equipment to meet patients’ specific needs. For example, vehicles had trolley stretchers available both onboard and in storerooms, which could accommodate bariatric patients. Staff stored paediatric stretcher harnesses onboard, these were colour coded to ensure they were not confused with seatbelts and sized for small children. The harnesses could reduce the stretcher’s strap size by half to safely transport children.

Staff supported patients who used mobility aids, such as walking frames or crutches, and provided wheelchairs where preferred.

Staff gave patients and those close to them help, emotional support and advice when needed.

The evidence showed an exceptional standard. The provider cared about, promoted and supported staff wellbeing. Leaders understood that a happy workforce was a productive and healthy workforce and had exceptional strategies for building staff morale and enabling staff to always deliver person-centred care.

Leaders fostered an outstanding, caring staff environment, with a clear ethos of family first, work second. Service leaders implemented a ‘Health and Wellbeing’ programme designed to support wellbeing and health care needs.

Leaders focused on improving staff morale and promoting positive lifestyle choices through this programme. The service employed a relationship owner for this programme, who was accessible to all staff, visited bases, spoke directly with staff, and organised staff wellbeing and team-building strategies. In addition, the service had wellbeing champions at most bases who listened to staff concerns and created meaningful activities to support staff in managing their mental health.

G4S Patient Transport Services was committed to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of their employees. Leaders recognised that a supported, healthy workforce benefits both staff and the quality of care provided.

Managers implemented a range of policies to support staff wellbeing, these included but were not limited to: Safeguarding the Mental Health and Wellbeing of Our Employees Policy, Care and Rehabilitation Services and Patient Transport Services, the Financial Wellbeing Policy, and the Family Friendly policy.

Staff had access to a free employee assistance programme, which covered a wide range of physical and emotional wellbeing needs.

Leaders also implemented a healthy lifestyle process, which was designed to help staff and their families in managing long term health conditions such as strokes, type 2 diabetes and multiple sclerosis.

The service also offered staff free legal and financial advice. Staff could access a solicitor for advice on family law, buying and selling a property, power of attorney, probate and personal injury claims.

In addition, leaders enabled staff to access benefits through a workplace benefit scheme, offering discounts across over 300,000 brands. They introduced a breakfast club which provided free breakfast, so staff did not have to start their day hungry.

The service made sure staff were supported during significant life events. The ‘Bereavement Leave Policy’ provided 3 days paid leave for the loss of a close relative, and up to 14 days following the loss of a child under 18.

Staff requiring neonatal care leave, were able to take a maximum of 68 weeks and if they lost their child within this timeframe, they were able to take the full 68 weeks.

Staff had access to chaplaincy services, mental health champions, unions, and trauma and risk management advocates

Leaders and staff organised team-building days, such as a game of rounders and a picnic for staff and their families. They made sure staff had access to resource and facilities for safe working.

Staff were able to provide feedback, raise concerns and suggest improvements to the service or staff experiences, and could expect these to be acted upon.

Teams worked and learned together, such as for moving and handling training, which supported multidisciplinary working.

Leaders provided personalised support which recognised the diversity of the workforce.

Staff told us they felt valued by their managers and colleagues and had opportunities to contribute to service development. We spoke with staff who had been actively involved in co-designing new vehicles and who told us about the out-of-hours activities, such as group picnics for staff and their families.

The provider and local leaders ensured staff with protected characteristics felt included and respected within the service.