• Ambulance service

Archived: Multi Health Medical Services UK

Unit 1, Asquith Avenue Business Park, Asquith Avenue, Gildersome, Morley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS27 7RZ (01924) 366851

Provided and run by:
Multi Health Medical Services UK Limited

Important: This service was previously registered at a different address - see old profile

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 6 July 2018

Multi Health Medical Services UK is operated by Multi Health Medical Services UK Limited. The company was founded in 2007 and offered services throughout the UK providing medical support at public and private events. The service registered with the CQC in May 2012. It is an independent ambulance service based in Morley, West Yorkshire.

The service had a registered manager, who was also the director of operations, in post since 2016.

The company provided a range of services including: urgent and emergency paramedic and first aid medical coverage at both private and public events including the ability to transfer a patient off site to hospital if required; blood and organ transport; first aid training and repatriation of patients. On site only event medical provision is currently not regulated by CQC

The focus of this announced inspection was in relation to the urgent and emergency care of patients.

The provider was registered to provide the following regulated activities:

  • Transport services, triage, and medical advice provided remotely.

  • Treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

This provider was subject to an announced focussed inspection on 21 March 2018.

The provider employed two full time staff; the registered manager who was also the director of operations and a managing director who was the safeguarding lead. At the time of this inspection the managing director was on leave of absence. To cover the absence the company had employed a temporary team leader to work one day a week to support the director of operations with the daily running of the company. The leadership team could access advice from an Emergency Care Practitioner (ECP) on a voluntary non-contractual basis approximately twice a year and as needed.

The provider tendered for business for events throughout the country or provided additional resources for events in support of other independent ambulance providers when requested.

When the provider was contracted to provide medical cover at an event, and the resources required exceeded two, they would seek additional resources from another independent ambulance provider who had a pool of staff to use. The additional staff at the event would be working for the provider from where they were sourced, not Multi Health Medical Services UK, even though they had the contract for the event.

Overall inspection

Updated 6 July 2018

Multi Health Medical Services UK is operated by Multi Health Medical Services UK Limited. It is an independent ambulance provider based in Morley, West Yorkshire. The provider`s main service was providing medical cover at public and private events. We did not inspect this part of their service at this inspection.

The provider was registered to provide the following regulated activities:

  • Transport services, triage, and medical advice provided remotely.

  • Treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

The provider had provided emergency and urgent care for one patient in the last 12 months which was a transfer from an event to hospital. The provider had not carried out any patient transport services.

We inspected this service using our comprehensive inspection methodology. We carried out the announced part of the inspection on 21 March 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.

Services we do not rate

We regulate independent ambulance services but we do not currently have a legal duty to rate them. We highlight good practice and issues that service providers need to improve and take regulatory action as necessary.

We found the following issues that the service provider needs to improve:

  • There was no information and guidance about how to complain made available and accessible to everyone who used the service either on the provider website or carried on the PTS vehicle.

  • Staff did not know what a never event was.

  • The recording and management of never events and near misses were not included in the provider`s policy documents.

  • Staff did not know what the basic principles of duty of candour legislation were and how to apply them.

  • The provider did not have a duty of candour policy.

  • The provider did not have a system to record and audit the issuing of non-prescription drugs by staff

  • The process reported in the operations manual in relation to the issuing and auditing of non-prescription drugs was not aligned with processes operating within the service.

  • The provider did not carry out regular hand hygiene or personal protective equipment audits to ensure levels of compliance.

  • The provider`s ambulance did not carry a stretcher with a six point harness.

  • The provider did record any health and safety audit activity.

  • The provider did not have a risk register or a system to manage foreseeable risk.

  • The provider did not have a business continuity plan.

  • The provider did not have a system to measure and record levels of staff adherence to policies and procedures.

  • The four monthly meetings between the managing director and director of operations and the six monthly meetings with the management team and the Emergency Care Practitioner (ECP) did not have an agenda and the minutes and actions were not recorded.

  • The provider did not have a system to ensure the operations manual and policies within it were updated with relevant information in a timely manner.

However, we found the following areas of good practice:

  • The director of operations and the temporary team leader had a Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) Level three advanced driver qualification.

  • The temporary team leader who was acting as safeguarding lead had undertaken safeguarding level three training for children and adults.

  • Staff we spoke with could describe different signs of potential abuse that could lead to a safeguarding referral.

  • The provider`s ambulance, was visibly clean and all equipment carried on the vehicle was in date and where required had been tested in accordance with portable appliance testing (PAT).

  • The station environment was spacious, clean, tidy and well organised.

  • There was evidence that equipment had been regularly tested and test dates were recorded in an equipment log book.

  • Staff completed checks of the vehicle and equipment carried on it before deployment. There was evidence that the checks had been recorded.

  • The director of operations was aware of the principles of assessing mental capacity and making best interest decisions.

  • The leaders had been visible because they worked on all operational activity.

Following this inspection, we told the provider that it must take eight actions to comply with the regulations and that it should make four other improvements, even though a regulation had not been breached, to help the service improve. We also issued the provider with three requirement notices that affected urgent and emergency care. Details are at the end of the report.

Ellen Armistead

Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (area of responsibility), on behalf of the Chief Inspector of Hospitals

Emergency and urgent care

Updated 6 July 2018

Multi Health Medical Services UK provides urgent and emergency services for patients transferring from private and public events to hospitals as part of some of their events contracts. They had transferred one patient to hospital in the last 12 months.

We do not currently have a legal duty to rate independent ambulance services but we highlight good practice and issues that service providers need to improve.

There were a number of areas for improvement identified during the inspection including nine actions the provider must take and fiver actions the provider should take. There were three requirement notices issued which required the provider to send CQC a report outlining what action they were going to take to meet the requirements. Full details are at the end of this report.