Updated
13 October 2026
Date of assessment: 3 June 2026.
Inter-County Ambulance Service Ltd is an independent ambulance service founded in 1972. The service primarily provided patient transport services and also delivered emergency and urgent inter-hospital transfers.
In the 12 months prior to our inspection, 86% of the service's activity related to patient transport services, with the remaining 14% comprising emergency and urgent care transfers.
The service was staffed by trained paramedics, ambulance technicians, emergency care assistants and ambulance care assistants. It operated 4 ambulance vehicles.
The service is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to carry out the following regulated activities:
- Transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely
- Treatment of disease, disorder or injury
We carried out a comprehensive announced inspection of the service on 3 June 2026. The service was previously inspected in June 2019 and was rated Requires Improvement. At that inspection, we identified breaches of Regulation 12 (Safe care and treatment), Regulation 17 (Good governance) and Regulation 18 (Staffing). In January 2020, we carried out a focused inspection to review the concerns identified at the previous inspection. We found improvements had been made; however, the service was not re-rated.
During our inspection in June 2026, we identified breaches of the following regulations:
- Regulation 17: Good governance
- Regulation 13: Safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment
- Regulation 12: Safe care and treatment
- Regulation 15: Premises and equipment
Following this inspection, we told the service that it must take some actions to comply with the regulations. We issued the service with a warning notice that affected patient transport services and emergency and urgent care services.
In instances where CQC has begun a process of regulatory action, we may publish this information on our website after any representations and/or appeals have been concluded, if the action has been taken forward.
Emergency and urgent care
Updated
16 March 2026
This assessment was a comprehensive short notice inspection of the urgent and emergency care service.
At our previous comprehensive inspection in June 2019, we rated the service as requires improvement. Following this inspection, the overall rating has remained requires improvement. At the June 2019 inspection, we did not rate the caring domain; however, at this inspection, caring was rated good.
The service delivered individualised care that maintained people’s privacy and dignity. The ambulance vehicles were clean and well equipped, with all vehicles having pressure mattresses. Transport journeys were usually booked on the day of travel, and the office team would allocate journeys according to the trained staff available. For more complex high dependency journeys the person being transported would usually also be accompanied by hospital staff.
However, we identified 4 breaches of regulations, relating to safeguarding, safe care and treatment, governance and premises and equipment.
The service did not have effective systems and processes to consistently protect people from abuse and improper treatment. Potential risks to people’s health, safety and welfare were not always appropriately assessed, monitored or mitigated when identified. There was a lack of robust clinical oversight of medicines management. Governance systems and auditing processes were not effective in identifying or addressing areas requiring improvement. In addition, the service premises were not maintained to appropriate standards of cleanliness.
Patient transport services
Updated
16 March 2026
Date of assessment: 3 June 2026.
This assessment was a comprehensive inspection of the patient transport service.
At our previous comprehensive inspection in June 2019, we rated the service as requires improvement. Following this inspection, the overall rating has remained requires improvement. At the June 2019 inspection, we did not rate the caring domain; however, at this inspection, caring was rated good.
The service delivered compassionate, person-centred care that was conscientious, reliable and responsive to the needs of people who used the service. Staff worked with external partners and families to ensure journeys accommodated people's individual requirements whenever it was safe and practicable to do so.
However, we identified 4 breaches of regulations relating to safeguarding, safe care and treatment, governance and premises and equipment.
The service did not have effective systems and processes to consistently protect people from abuse and improper treatment. Potential risks to people's health, safety and welfare were not always appropriately assessed, monitored, or mitigated when identified. Governance systems and auditing processes were not effective in identifying or addressing areas requiring improvement. In addition, service premises were not maintained to appropriate standards of cleanliness.