People from the organisations who use VKL Transport Services described the service as 'very good' and ‘very professional’. There have been no complaints about the service or the care provided by the staff.

We noted that appropriate recruitment policy and procedures had been followed when recruiting staff for the service. Some of the nurses and care assistants had been supplied by the provider’s own recruitment agency.

We noted that the four vehicles in use had been serviced regularly and all documents were in order. All drivers were required to follow the VKL transport policy and procedures to ensure all passengers were safe during transit.

VKL Transport Services is operated by VKL Transport Services Limited. The service provides a patient transport service. This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. There are some exemptions from regulation by CQC, which relate to particular types of service and these are set out in Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

We inspected this service using our comprehensive inspection methodology. We carried out the announced part of the inspection on 20 March 2018 and on 12 April 2018.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we ask the same five questions of all services: are they safe, effective, caring, responsive to people's needs, and well-led?

Throughout the inspection, we took account of what people told us and how the provider understood and complied with the Mental Health Act (1983) and the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

The main service provided by this service was patient transport services.

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:

• The service had enough skilled staff to safely carry out the booked patient transfers. The service ensured a minimum of three staff were allocated to each patient transfer depending on risk and need.
• The service employed competent staff and ensured all staff were trained appropriately to undertake their roles. Staff had an effective understanding of the Mental Health Act (1983) and were aware of their restrictions under this legal framework.
• Recruitment procedures were in place to ensure that all staff were appointed following a robust check of the suitability and experience for the role, together with robust pre-employment checks having been carried out.
• We saw that staff were caring and respectful of patients using the service. Staff treated patients with confidentiality and dignity and sought to gain feedback from patients regarding their journey using a patient experience form.
• The service demonstrated the effort made to meet individual needs of patients using the service; such as considering the gender mix of transport staff and requesting staff that spoke a specific second language to provide translation services if needed.
• Staff told us, and we saw, that the leadership of the service was open, approachable and inclusive.
• The leaders promoted a positive staff culture and encouraged staff development to deliver the best possible care and treatment for all patients.
• Effective systems were in place to ensure patients received safe and high quality care and treatment at all times.

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

• To embed the quality monitoring of infection control precautions in the service.

Following this inspection, we told the provider that it should make other improvements, even though a regulation had not been breached, to help the service improve. Details are at the end of the report.

Heidi Smoult

Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (Central Region), on behalf of the Chief Inspector of Hospitals