Archived: Emergency Response Systems

The registered manager committed to take immediate action to address our concerns and we returned to check whether improvements had been made. We met with the registered manager and looked at records. We spoke with the mechanic and looked at ambulance vehicles. Following the inspection we spoke over the telephone with five staff. We also received further documents from the registered manager which had not been available on the day of inspection. We received feedback from the NHS trust which regularly used the service.

We found significant improvements had been made with regard to the maintenance of ambulance vehicles. There was a programme of regular vehicle inspection and maintenance records were available for each vehicle.

We had continuing concerns about the effectiveness of recruitment procedures. Although we were told that no new staff had been recruited since we last inspected the service, staff records for existing staff remained incomplete. Records were not well organised and did not provide evidence that checks had taken place to verify the suitability of staff. Similarly, training records were incomplete and did not provide assurance that all staff received regular training and supervision.

There was limited evidence of systems to monitor the quality and safety of the service.

Because of the transient nature of this service we were unable to speak with people who used the service; however we spoke with a manager at a local NHS trust which contracted ERS to undertake patient transport journeys on their behalf. They told us that, although they had some concerns about the responsiveness of the service, they had received few complaints from patients. We spoke to a nurse on one of the wards which regularly used the service and they told us "the patient care they provide is brilliant".

We inspected two ambulance vehicles, which appeared well maintained and fit for purpose, although we found that some consumable items such as bandages were past their expiry date and some linen was not clean. Maintenance and servicing records for the ambulances were not available to inspect and vehicle inspections which ambulance crews were required to undertake were not consistently recorded.

We looked at staff recruitment records and found them to be incomplete. Staff were not adequately vetted before they commenced employment. There was little evidence of formal systems to monitor quality and safety. Given the number of deficiencies we found, we judged that the processes that were in place were not effective. The provider assured us following the inspection that immediate steps had been taken to address our concerns.