South Central Ambulance Service rated ‘inadequate’ and warned following damning report saying patient care and safety ‘undermined’

South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (Scas) has been told to make improvements by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following an inspection undertaken in April and May.

The scathing report raised a number of concerns about the quality of the trust’s governance and its staff training - with trust leaders described as ‘dismissive’ and ‘out of touch’.

One person said they were ‘concerned about the culture of problems being swept under the rug, in particular within the management team’.

Inspectors found ambulances were not always staffed with crews who had the skills to give emergency care and found issues with the trust’s governance which undermined the care it provided.

The report highlighted a long delay that contributed to the death of a patient who had fallen and was trapped under their bed.

Meanwhile, worries were raised over triaging, including when a patient with a ‘catastrophic’ brain haemorrhage experienced delays.

The report also highlighted pigeon infestation at one resource centre in Portsmouth led to droppings covering vehicles and contaminating personal protective equipment for staff.

The failings have led to Scas being handed a warning notice requiring ‘immediate and significant improvements’ are put in place.

Scas’ rating for emergency and urgent care has deteriorated from good to inadequate.

Denna Westwood, director of CQC’s south network, said: ‘We identified issues around shared learning from serious incidents and allegations against staff not being appropriately addressed. We also found safeguarding wasn’t being given the priority it deserved, which is something we had already identified to the trust in November 2021.

‘As a result of our concerns, we have issued the trust with a warning notice so it’s clear about the areas it immediately needs to address to ensure people’s safety.’

Ms Westwood said ‘despite the issues which undermined the quality and safety of care the trust provided, staff on the front line were doing their absolute best to provide safe and effective care and treatment of patients’.

This was despite some feeling ‘overwhelmed’ and having a sense of ‘compassion fatigue’.

But while stating they should be ‘applauded for the job they are doing’, especially in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, ‘leaders sometimes appeared out of touch and were not fully sighted on issues that impacted the overall effectiveness of the care they were providing’.

Ms Westwood went on to say there were ‘frequent and prolonged delays’ in reaching people who needed emergency assistance, and this resulted in ‘poor outcomes for some people’.

She added: ‘Staff described a dismissive attitude from trust leaders when they raised concerns.’

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Will Hancock, chief executive of Scas, said: ‘The CQC has highlighted some serious concerns which we must, and will, fix as a matter of urgency. I want to reassure everyone that we have already taken swift action, but I recognise we have more to do. Providing the best possible care to all our patients remains our top priority.’

Improvements planned include reviewing all outstanding safeguarding referrals, looking at processes for handling serious incident reviews and enhanced equipment checks on all 660 vehicles.

A programme addressing sexual safety and a full governance review by an NHS specialist are planned too.