Hearts First Ambulance Service Limited

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

This means we looked for evidence that the service involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

At our last assessment this key question was assessed but not rated. At this assessment we rated this key question as good.

This meant people 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 service always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

Staff we spoke with were passionate about delivering a high standard of care. It was understood patients should be treated as if they were part of their family. Staff knew their roles and responsibilities. Dignity and privacy was provided during patient transport. Staff felt supported by managers to deliver compassionate person-centred care.

We were unable to directly observe patient care, However, the service collected feedback from patients that was mainly positive. Compliments received in the last 12 months prior to assessment included; ‘Great staff. Friendly and supportive’, ‘lovely, kind caring crew’ and ‘‘very good service and really polite and nice really appreciate it thank you’.

Staff were supported by training, policies and guidance to deliver kind and compassionate care. The service had developed a Meeting the Needs, Comfort and Safety of Patients guidance and staff expected standard guidance. This outlined the expected professional standard expected by all staff at the service. This was monitored and discussed during appraisals and staff supervision.

Commissioners also shared positive feedback, stating the service was of exceptional standard and had not received any negative feedback in the last 12 months.

The service treated people as individuals and was exceptional in how they made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. The service took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

Staff understood and respected personal, cultural, social, and religious needs of patients and how they may relate to care needs. Staff had received training in relation to equality diversity and human rights along with autism, learning disability and dementia awareness training.

Staff had the ability to communicate with all patients. They had access to translation services and were provided with a multilingual emergency phrase booklet, pain assessment picture tools and some basic sign language instructions.

The service had robust booking and planning processes so staff were always aware and prepared for any patients that may need any communication aids or reasonable adjustments. Staff had access to additional specialist equipment that was available to support complex patient needs. For example, Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), portable oxygen concentrators and paediatrics travel pods.

The service took a proactive and dynamic approach to supporting all patients’ needs. The service’s high dependency vehicles were equipped with a digital video disc (DVD) player, a kettle with tea and coffee facilities, as well as liquid thickener and straws for patients who required thickened fluids.

The service shared examples supporting patients traveling with pet dogs during repatriation journeys. Staff accommodated requests for patients to travel with their pets.

Staff could also provide baby bottle sterilisation equipment on request for people travelling with small children.

Managers understood patient transport could cause worry and anxiety. The service aimed to make patients and their families comfortable and safe during all aspects of their care transport by treating people as individuals.

The service promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

Staff understood the importance of supporting patients to make their own choices and be involved in decisions about their care. Staff gave examples where patients had declined transport due to feeling unwell. Staff supported their decision, liaised with clinic staff and ensured alternative arrangements were made when patients felt able.

Staff received manual handling training as part of their mandatory training alongside supervision and refresher training where required. Staff understood the importance of providing support that enabled independence and choice in relation to patients’ mobility. The service had manual handling aids and equipment available to staff to support people’s independence. This included a stair climber chair which enabled staff to take people upstairs if they requested.

The service put patients at the heart of all their policies and guidance. They supported staff with training and remote guidance and advice 24 hours a day. Many repatriation patients had complex medical needs, these were supported through effective planning and communication with patients, family and system partners.

The service listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff responded to people’s needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress.

Staff knew how to recognise and respond if a patient deteriorated. Many patients who travelled regularly were undergoing long term treatments and were prone to periods of being unwell. Staff explained they knew patients well and could spot subtle changes in their health conditions.

All staff were trained to carry out a dynamic on-scene risk assessment to establish any risks to patients or themselves. Any escalations of risks were communicated to the operations team who gave remote or onsite support.

Patient transport staff were supported with emergency training such as basic life support and management of a choking patient within their scope of practice. Each vehicle was equipped with an automated electronic defibrillator (AED) to enable prompt live saving interventions if required.

Staff were supported with role specific training and guidance. The service had a deterioration patient policy which outlined processes to follow for both patient transport and repatriation crews. The service provided refresher and upskill training throughout the year and following any learning from incidents.

The service always cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and was exceptional at supporting and enabling staff to always deliver person-centred care.

The service cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff. They encouraged staff to look after themselves and each other. The service supported and enabled staff to deliver person-centred care. The service had an inclusive culture of valuing staff. Staff felt respected, supported and valued.

Staff had regular opportunities to meet with managers and seek support from the operations centre. Managers had an ‘open door’ policy for staff to raise concerns. Staff were given opportunities to give feedback during regular team meetings, yearly appraisals and supervision. The service feedback data collected from recent appraisals showed staff felt there was a comfortable working environment, high standards and managers were supportive.

Senior managers were highly visible. Staff interactions were respectful and professional. Staff told us they had confidence in escalating concerns and receiving support from the managers. Staff had access to a 24/7 workforce phone chat that was monitored by managers. Communication was effective and supportive between staff and managers. Service emails, newsletters and bulletins were structured in a supportive manner. For example, newsletters shared healthy recipes and skin health awareness information for staff during skin cancer awareness month.

The service recognised the risks of staff safety following long journeys. To support staff working unsociable hours and traveling long distances they were offered onsite accommodation with facilities. Managers also served team breakfasts and lunches to encourage a family friendly atmosphere throughout the service.

Managers had recognised potential staff safety issues due to the layout and nature of its premises. Managers had implemented close circuit television (CCTV) throughout the site to support staff safety. Walkie talkies were used throughout the site to ensure good communication and minimise potential risks.

The service fostered a culture of staff wellbeing by offering permanent staff access to private health insurance. This included yearly dental and optician check-ups, death in service benefit and group accident insurance. Staff could also sign up to a private pension scheme.

The service provided access to an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) which included a 24-hour helpline for all kinds of support. This included mental health support, legal, bereavement counselling, and financial matters. Onsite support was offered following incidents to provide qualified counsellors and ongoing follow up support. Some managers had also received additional mental health training to help recognise and support mental health in the workplace.

The service promoted and recognised health and wellbeing calendars to support awareness of culture, physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. Managers listened and responded to staff feedback and recently introduced the “You told us-We did” survey initiative to gather staff views, questions and concerns. Managers were open and transparent when sharing the actions taken and were honest when they were unable to make changes suggested and explained the reason why.

Staff felt informed of service developments and their views and suggestions were valued by managers. Staff were recognised for their dedication and hard work through a unique financial bonus structure. This was a tiered bonus system that recognised performance, loyalty and annual turnover profits of the service. This further embedded staff’s dedication to deliver a high standard of patient care.

The service had a career progression pathway and continuous development process supported through yearly appraisals and supervision. The dedicated onsite training manager ensured competency assessments were completed before staff transitioned into new roles.

The service supported younger workers by offering 2 work experience placements a year. The service worked in collaboration with local schools and colleges to encourage the next generation of patient transport staff. Examples were shared where work experience had successfully led to employment.

Managers supported reasonable adjustments identified and offered internal occupational and human resource support. The service had effective and robust provisions and processes to support all staff throughout the service. Managers recognised the importance and value of their staff, they stated ‘the staff are the most important, without them we cannot deliver the high standard of patient care that we do.’