The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told Medipatrol Ltd in Cinderford Gloucestershire, that it must make significant improvements to its services after identifying risks to the safety of patients following an inspection in November 2020.
An unannounced focused inspection of Medipatrol Ltd, an independent ambulance service, took place on 11 November following concerns raised to inspectors about the safety and quality of the service provided.
Following the inspection, CQC took action to ensure the provider had the time to make the necessary urgent improvements by suspending the registration of the service.
Mandy Williams, CQC’s head of hospital inspection for the south west, said:
“People using Medipatrol Ltd have the right to safe, high-quality care. However, when we inspected, we found a service which had too many problems to correct over a short time scale.
“We took immediate enforcement action by suspending the registration of the service over a set timescale. This will give the provider the opportunity to put in place the improvements which were desperately needed without causing a risk to patents.
“We will continue to monitor Medipatrol Ltd closely and will not hesitate to use further action if satisfactory improvements are not made and sustained.”
Inspectors found that the systems to ensure all staff have attended and are up to date with mandatory training and key skills for their roles, where not in place.
- Systems to ensure the safe prescribing, administration, were not in place. Medicines were not stored securely, at the correct temperature. There was not a process of audit for all medicines including oxygen.
- Staff were not keeping accurate records of their patient care.
- Staff did not ensure the design, maintenance and use of facilities, premises vehicles and equipment keep people safe, including storage of substances that are hazardous to health.
- Staff were not clear about their roles and did not have regular opportunities to meet, discuss and learn from the performance of the service.
- The provider needs to ensure managers use the systems in place to manage risks and create reliable systems for thorough investigations when incidents occur or things go wrong.
- Inspectors also identified the service needed to have safe recruitment processes in place to ensure all staff and directors were assessed for their suitability for their roles. This needed to include fit and proper person requirements.
Full details of the inspection are given in the report published on the CQC website here.
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