South Central Ambulance Service retains 'Good' rating but breach requirement for vehicle cleanliness and infection control

South Central Ambulance Service has been inspected by the health watchdog, the Care Quality Commission

Staff were praised for treating patients ‘with compassion and kindness’ and also providing ‘emotional support to patients, families and carers’.

But the non-emergency patient transport service was found to have equipment, vehicles and premises that were not ‘visibly clean’.

The report read: ‘The service did not consistently control infection risk well.

‘Equipment and control measures were not always used to protect patients, themselves and others from infection.

‘Equipment, vehicles and premises were not always visibly clean and this was not consistently monitored throughout the service.’

Inspectors told Scas bosses they needed to put ‘a robust system in place’ to ensure procedures were followed.

Paul Stevens, director of commercial services at Scas, said: ‘We are currently working with the CQC to understand the context behind the areas they have identified as requiring improvement and we are developing the required action plans to address these shortfalls.

‘Once the action plans are agreed, we will monitor their implementation and update the CQC on our progress.’

The report also highlighted two areas of outstanding practice. One area was the hospital liaison officers team, who support the daily flow of patients and respond to individual needs.

Another was the contact centre learning and development team, which has developed an induction course to prepare staff with skills and knowledge and improve quality of service for patients.

Mr Stevens added: ‘The inspection report published by the CQC is testament to the hard work, dedication and commitment shown by all our staff and volunteers working in our patient transport service.

‘I was delighted that the inspectors recognised we now have several areas of exceptional practice and that our staff are committed to continually learning and deliver the actions identified to make our “good” rating even better. It is great to receive this recognition for those teams as all have worked very hard.’

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