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.

We found the following areas of good practice:

• Staff received a comprehensive range of training to maintain their competencies and skills in relation to supporting patients effectively.

• Client and patient feedback in relation to the quality of the service was consistently positive.

• The service maintained good records in relation to staff appraisal and training.

• The service followed effective recruitment processes, for example, Disclosure & Barring Service checks and obtained appropriate references prior to staff commencing employment.

However, we also found the following issues that the service provider needs to improve:

• Vehicle observations during our inspection identified a number of concerns in relation to cleanliness, maintenance of on board equipment, and vehicle fittings. The provider had addressed these concerns at the time of our follow on visit to the service on 6 April 2017.

• The provider held no central quality assurance or risk rating system for the service.

Following this inspection, we told the provider that it must take some actions to comply with the regulations and that it should make other improvements to help the service improve. We also issued the provider with one requirement notice that affected well-led. Details are at the end of the report.

Professor Sir Mike Richards

Chief Inspector of Hospitals

Given the nature of this service we were not able to talk to people who had received

patient transport services, however we did speak with people who were responsible for commissioning Medexpress' service and received positive feedback from them. We spoke with two hospitals and one care home that regularly commissioned patient transport services from Medexpress. They told us that the service was easy to book, reliable and that its staff were courteous and professional. One transport manager told us, “They’re easy to get hold of and we’ve built up a really good relationship with the service. Staff are very pro-active in asking the right questions about patients’ needs so that they are able to send the right type of vehicle”. One care home manager reported, “We’ve never had any problems or complaints about the service, they always turn up on time and always offer for a member of their staff to stay and help with our residents if we want. I would certainly recommend them”.

Staff we spoke told us they felt supported in their work, received the training the needed to do their job and described the provider as, “A good boss”.

We found that the provider was compliant with all of the outcomes we assessed.