IMT Medical Transport Headquarters

Updated 28 October 2020

IMT Medical Transport Headquarters is operated by IMT Medical Transport Limited. The service registered with the care quality commission in January 2018. The service is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

The service is an independent ambulance provider specialising in the secure transport of mental health patients and those detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. The different types of transfers included from secure mental health units, inpatient units and acute settings; for example, accident and emergency departments to receiving mental health facilities or courts of law.

The service has had a registered manager in post since January 2018. At the time of the inspection, a new manager had recently been appointed and was registered with the CQC in January 2020.

Updated 28 October 2020

IMT Medical Transport Headquarters is operated by IMT Medical Transport Ltd . It is an independent ambulance service which was first registered in January 2018. The service is located in Liverpool and serves several NHS hospital trusts and local authorities. The service provides a patient transport service specialising in the transfer of mental health patients, including those detained under the Mental Health Act 1983, across the country.

We inspected this service using our comprehensive inspection methodology. We carried out the unannounced inspection on 2 and 3 October 2019.

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 Capacity Act 2005.

We had not previously inspected this service. We rated it as Requires improvement overall.

We found the following issues that the service needs to improve:

• Staff did not always have a clear understanding of how to protect patients from abuse or how to recognise and report it.

• Risk assessments were not always comprehensive and were not updated for each patient.

• Records were not detailed and did not reflect the patient’s journey or the care received accurately. Records were not always clear or available to staff and management.

• Incidents, near misses and patient safety issues were not always managed well. Staff did not always recognise and report incidents and incidents were not always documented appropriately; in line with policy and best practice guidance.

• Patient outcomes were not always measured or monitored and policies did not always follow best practice guidance or standards.

• Leaders did not always operate effective governance processes or use systems to manage performance effectively.

• Leaders did not always identify or escalate relevant risks and issues or identify actions to reduce their impact.

• Leaders and teams could not always access and find the data they needed, data was not always collected and was not always available in accessible formats to allow staff to understand performance and drive improvement.

However, we found the following areas of good practice:

• The service had enough staff with the right qualifications, skills, training and experience to provide the right care and treatment. The service had suitable premises and equipment and looked after them well.

• Patients could access the service when they wanted to, and services were planned to meet the needs of the individual patients.

• Managers promoted a positive culture that supported and valued staff. Staff were clear on their roles and responsibilities.

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, even though a regulation had not been breached, to help the service improve. We also took enforcement action telling the service that it had to make significant improvements. This is detailed at the end of the report.

Professor Sir Mike Richards

Chief Inspector of Hospitals

Updated 13 December 2019

IMT Medical Services Ltd provided patient transport service specialising in the transfer of mental health patients, including those detained under the Mental Health Act 1983, across the country.

We found the following issues that the service needs to improve: 

• Staff did not always have a clear understanding of how to protect patients from abuse or how to recognise and report it.

• Risk assessments were not always comprehensive and were not updated for each patient.

• Records were not detailed and did not reflect the patient’s journey or the care received accurately. Records were not always clear or available to staff and management.

• Incidents, near misses and patient safety issues were not always managed well. Staff did not always recognise and report incidents and incidents were not always documented appropriately; in line with policy and best practice guidance.

• Patient outcomes were not always measured or monitored and policies did not always follow best practice guidance or standards.

• Leaders did not always operate effective governance processes or use systems to manage performance effectively.

• Leaders did not always identify or escalate relevant risks and issues or identify actions to reduce their impact.

• Leaders and teams could not always access and find the data they needed, data was not always collected and was not always available in accessible formats to allow staff to understand performance and drive improvement.

However, we found the following areas of good practice:

• The service had enough staff with the right qualifications, skills, training and experience to provide the right care and treatment. The service had suitable premises and equipment and looked after them well.

• Patients could access the service when they wanted to, and services were planned to meet the needs of the individual patients.

• Managers promoted a positive culture that supported and valued staff. Staff were clear on their roles and responsibilities.