Prime Care Ambulance Service

Updated 24 August 2018

Prime Care Ambulance Service is operated by Prime Care Ambulance Service. The service opened in 1998. It is an independent ambulance service in Wigan, Lancashire. The service primarily serves the communities of Lancashire. However, patients are transported across the UK as required. The service predominantly provides patient transport services to adults only and also provides bariatric transport with all vehicles equipped with bariatric equipment.

The service provides medical patient transport services to NHS Trusts. The service provided ambulance provision for event work; however this was a small portion of the work carried out.

• The service is registered to provide the following regulated activities:Transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely

We last inspected Prime Care Ambulance Service in April 2014. Suitable arrangements were in place to ensure people using the service were provided with effective, safe and appropriate personalised care.

The service has had the same registered manager in post since 2011. This person is also the managing director.

Updated 24 August 2018

Prime Care Ambulance Service is an independent ambulance service provider based in Wigan, Lancashire. Prime Care Ambulance Service is registered to provide patient transport services. Prime Care Ambulance Service offers ambulance transport on an ‘as required’ basis and provides pre-planned transport. PTS service are provided on request from a local NHS ambulance trust.

We inspected this service using our comprehensive inspection methodology. We carried out a scheduled comprehensive inspection on 5 December 2017. The service had one registered base and a separate station to park ambulance vehicles which we inspected.

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.

The main service provided by this service was patient transport.

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.

Professor Edward Baker

Chief Inspector of Hospitals