E-zec Medical Shropshire

Updated 14 July 2022

E-zec Medical Shropshire is run by E-zec Medical Transport Services (E-zec). E-zec Medical Shropshire was awarded the non-emergency patient transport service (NEPTS) contract to supply services across Shropshire by the local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and for Powys residents accessing hospital services in Shropshire in October 2021.

E-zec Medical Shropshire’s contract is to provide 95,000 patient journeys for children and adults each year across Shropshire and Powys. The types of journeys patients undertake includes: renal dialysis, outpatients appointments, discharges, admissions, transfers, oncology, palliative care, paediatric transport, bariatric transport, and GP transfers, In addition to standard patient transport services, E-zec provides a dedicated renal manager to provide enhanced support for dialysis patients across the region, a shuttle service linking the two acute NHS hospitals in Shropshire, plus a support service to facilitate the discharge of long-stay patients and their equipment.

The service is registered to deliver the following regulated activity:

• Transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely

The service had a registered manager in place at the time of our inspection. The regional manager was applying to take over the role as registered manager at this time.

The service delivered one core service:

• Patient transport services

As this service commenced in October 2021, we have not previously inspected it. We inspected this service as part of our inspection priorities at the time. There were no risks, outstanding compliance actions or enforcement associated with this service at this time.

Updated 14 July 2022

We rated it as good because:

• The service had mostly 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. 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 collected safety information and used it to improve the service.
• Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients and had access to good information. Key services were available seven days a week.
• Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, took account of their individual needs, and helped them understand their conditions. Staff told us they provided emotional support to patients, families and carers.
• The service planned care to meet the needs of local people, 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. Most 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:

• Not all vehicles were clean inside.
• Some fixtures and fittings of vehicles were damaged and not all staff reported this.
• Not all staff were up to date with mandatory training.
• Not all staff understood the duty of candour.
• Not all staff understood the Mental Capacity Act.
• The service could not evidence what competencies had been assessed when ambulance care assistants were undertaking their post-training supervised work.
• Not all staff had access to team meetings.
• Not all staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work.

Updated 14 July 2022