• Ambulance service

Archived: Office

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Little Barn, Manor House Farm, Reepham Road, Foulsham, Dereham, Norfolk, NR20 5PP (01362) 680272

Provided and run by:
Team J Medical Services Limited

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

Latest inspection summary

On this page

Background to this inspection

Updated 21 January 2019

Office is a small family run independent ambulance service operated by Team J Medical Services. The service opened in 2017. It is an independent ambulance service in Dereham, Norfolk.

The service has had a registered manager in post since 13 September 2017. The managing director of the service works as the paramedic and the operations director works as the technician. The service had one vehicle which was an ambulance. This is the first occasion the service has been inspected.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 21 January 2019

Office is a small family run independent ambulance service, operated by Team J Medical Services. The service is a patient transport service, and is based in Dereham, Norfolk.

The service provided includes patient transport for admissions, discharges and hospital appointments, long distance repatriation and event cover.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. There are some exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of service and these are set out in Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. Office provides services to patients taking part in or attending a sport or cultural event / services (e.g. repatriation) under arrangements of an insurance policy not primarily or solely intended for diagnosis and treatment (e.g. travel insurance), or under arrangements of an employer or government department. These types of arrangements are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore, the services provided to patients taking part in or attending a sport or cultural event / services (e.g. repatriation) under arrangements of an insurance policy not primarily or solely intended for diagnosis and treatment (e.g. travel insurance), or under arrangements of an employer or government department were not inspected.

We inspected this service using our comprehensive inspection methodology. We carried out the short notice, announced inspection on 26 November 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 rate

We rated it as good overall.

We found the following areas of good practice:

  • Staff received annual mandatory training and completed practice emergency drills of scenarios.

  • There were effective systems in place to monitor vehicle and equipment maintenance and infection prevention.

  • Policies, guidelines and standing operational procedures were in line with national guidance and were all in date. Staff signed to evidence they had read them.

  • During the inspection we were not able to observe any patient journeys or direct care, but noted patients completed feedback forms were positive and highlighted that staff were kind and caring.

  • Although there were no incidents reported, staff described how to report incidents. The service had up to date policies for staff to refer to.

However, we also found the following issues that the service provider needs to improve:

  • Staff had not received the appropriate level of safeguarding training. We informed the managers during our inspection, they responded immediately and booked level three training during our inspection.

  • The service did not record and monitor patient outcomes effectively.

  • The service had completed risk assessments which were not documented within a risk register. We raised this on site and the managers developed a risk register within two days of our inspection.

Amanda Stanford

Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals Interim (Central), on behalf of the Chief Inspector of Hospitals

Patient transport services

Good

Updated 21 January 2019

Patient transport services were a small proportion of the service’s activity. This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. There are some exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of service and these are set out in Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, for example, events work.

Staff received mandatory training and ongoing competency updates. Patients were risk assessed and individual care plans documented. There were weekly sessions on skills training. Policies and guidelines were available and in date. Written feedback from patients was positive. Staff were motivated to improve the service and monitored progress through regular team meetings.