Archived: Ambulance Solutions Ltd HQ

Updated 9 August 2022

Ambulance Solutions Limited HQ is operated by Ambulance Solutions Limited. The service was registered for the provision of patient transport services in February 2019. It is an independent ambulance service which provides patient transport services in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. The service primarily serves the communities of the South and Mid-Essex. The service also provides events medical services, which is not within the scope of CQC registration.

The service is registered to provide the following regulated activity:

• Transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely

The service was last inspected in 21 October 2019 and was rated Good overall.

We carried out a focused inspection on 31 May 2022, which did not include all the key lines of enquiry (KLOEs). The purpose of the focused inspection was to follow up on whistleblowing concerns received by the CQC in May 2022.

At this inspection we found the provider to be in breach of several regulations of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 Regulated Activities regulations (2014), inclusive of regulation 7 (Requirements relating to registered managers), regulation 15 (premises and equipment) and regulation 17 (good governance).

The main service provided was patient transport service.

We highlighted our findings and concerns to the registered manager and the executive directors over the course of the inspection process. Following the inspection, the executive directors decided to enter into liquidation and cease trading. As a result, the provider submitted a statutory notification to cancel their registration with the CQC for all regulated activities.

Updated 9 August 2022

Our rating of this location went down. We rated it as requires improvement because:

• The service could not provide assurance it controlled infection risk consistently well. Records were not always easily available to the registered manager or clinical lead to ensure oversight of the service. We could not gain assurances if managers investigated incidents and shared lessons learned with the whole team.
• Managers did not appraise staff’s work performance or hold supervision meetings with them to provide support and development. Those responsible for delivering care did not always work together as a team to benefit patients.
• We were not assured leaders had the skills and abilities to run the service consistently. They did not always understand and manage the priorities and issues the service faced. Not all staff felt respected, supported and valued by the leadership team. Leaders did not operate effective governance processes. Systems were not in place to manage performance effectively. Managers did not identify and escalate relevant risks and issues, nor identify actions to reduce their impact.

However:

• The service had enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe. Staff had training in key skills, understood how to protect patients from abuse, and managed safety well.

Updated 9 August 2022

Our rating of this service went down. We rated it as requires improvement. See the summary above for details.