The Care Quality Commission
  • Ambulance service

Reliance Ambulance Station

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Reliance Ambulance Service, Unit B1a, Fairoaks Airport, Chobham, Woking, GU24 8HU (01276) 423553

Provided and run by:
Reliance Ambulance Service Ltd

All Inspections

13 September 2022

During a routine inspection

Our rating of this service improved. We rated it as good because:

  • 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. The service controlled infection risk well.
  • Staff assessed risks to patients, acted on them and kept good care records. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them.
  • Staff provided good care and treatment. The service met agreed response times. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients.
  • Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, took account of their individual needs.
  • The service took account of patients’ individual needs, and made it easy for people to give feedback.
  • Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and supported staff to develop their skills. Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities. The service engaged well with patients and the community to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services continually.

However:

  • Staff did not always demonstrate good understanding of manual handling practices.

This service has been in Special Measures since 6 April 2022. During this inspection the provider demonstrated significant improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service has been removed from Special Measures. We rated this service as good because it was safe, effective, caring and responsive, and well led.

13 July 2022

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We do not currently rate focused inspections.

  • The service now controlled infection risk well. Staff assessed risks to patients, acted on them and kept good care records.
  • The service had improved the way they managed safety incidents well and had taken steps to learn lessons from them.
  • The service now investigated complaints in line with their policy.
  • Staff were collecting safety information and using it to improve the service.
  • Leaders were now clear about their roles and accountabilities.
  • Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and supported staff to develop their skills. Staff were now clear about their roles and accountabilities.

13 January 2022

During a routine inspection

We are placing the service into special measures. This is because the service was rated as inadequate. Following our inspection we also served the provider with a warning notice in response to concerns they were failing to comply with Regulation 17 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, Good governance.

Services placed in special measures will be inspected again within six months. If insufficient improvements have been made such that there remains a rating of inadequate overall or for any key question or core service, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating the service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration within six months if they do not improve. The service will be kept under review and, if needed, could be escalated to urgent enforcement action. Where necessary another inspection will be conducted within a further six months, and if there is not enough improvement, we will move to close the service by adopting our proposal to vary the provider’s registration to remove this location or cancel the provider’s registration.

We rated it as inadequate because:

  • The service could not provide assurance that infection risks were controlled well through consistent standards of cleanliness.
  • There was not a system to demonstrate or monitor if the staff had training in key skills.
  • The service did not safely manage or store medicines, including medical gases.
  • Staff did not collect safety information or use it to improve the service. The service did not investigate incidents in line with their policy and did not share lessons learnt from incidents.
  • The service did not investigate complaints in line with their policy.
  • Leaders were not always clear about their roles and accountabilities.
  • Leaders did not monitor the effectiveness of the service. The were no, key performance indicators to enable senior staff to monitor response or journey times.
  • There was no system to monitor if staff had reviewed information such as company policies and procedures.
  • The service did not have a vision and strategy.
  • Leaders did not effectively identify, address and mitigate key risks the service faced.
  • There was limited evidence of regular staff and leader’s engagement. The service had limited systems and processes to engage patients and the community to plan and manage services.
  • There were limited systems and processes to take account of patients’ individual needs.

However:

  • Key services were available seven days a week.
  • The service had adequate supplies of personal protective equipment at the base and within vehicles.
  • The service had enough suitable equipment including defibrillation equipment and manual handling aids.

We rated this service as inadequate because it was inadequate in safe, effective, responsive and well led; and unrated in caring.