Dirty ambulances among inspection concerns as independent service rated ‘inadequate’
An independent ambulance service has been rated “inadequate” after inspectors highlighted a range of issues threatening patient safety, including dirty vehicles and concerns over staff training.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has ordered Grimsby-based Mobile Medical Cover to undertake a range of urgent actions just a year after listing 30 improvements the firm needed to make to be safe following a previous inspection.
The commission said its unannounced inspection in August found that two ambulances flagged as “ready to use” were “visibly dirty”.
The report published on Wednesday said: “Due to visible dirt around the station premises, we did not see evidence the provider could be assured regular, effective cleaning processes took place.
“We inspected two ambulance vehicles which staff informed us were ready for use. Both were visibly dirty.
“We saw evidence of a rusty component on a stretcher which would affect the ability to adequately clean it and reduce the risk of infection.”
The watchdog said that vehicle cleaning records showed that not all vehicles were cleaned daily.
Mobile Medical Cover Ltd provides patient transport and emergency care cover at events.
But the CQC said that, at the time of its inspection in August, the firm had no patient transport contract in place but provided crews and ambulances to local healthcare providers when needed. It has previously provided services for an NHS hospital.
It said Mobile Medical Cover used more than 300 staff on a self-employed basis providing emergency cover at events but found no evidence the firm was checking the competency of these people, a situation it said was “putting people at risk if they fell ill”.
The report said inspectors were told by managers that, as most were employed by NHS providers, they would be deemed competent to work.
It said: “The provider could not be assured events staff who required to treat, or transport patients had the training and competence to perform the roles expected of them, particularly in relation to the management and administration of medicines.”
CQC head of hospital inspection Sarah Dronsfield said: “It was disappointing that despite being told to take action to improve cleanliness, their building and storage areas were dirty and disorganised, with sterile and non-sterile equipment being stored together.
“People were being put at risk of harm as they were cared for by staff who weren’t taking enough measures to protect them against infection as they weren’t following their own cleaning guidance.
“We inspected two ambulances which staff informed us were ready to use, but both were visibly dirty.
“We found events staff didn’t receive a formal induction or training and were told this would be done on site during the start of their shift. However, we didn’t see any evidence that their competency was assessed, putting people at risk if they fell ill, as staff might not have the skills to treat them.”
Ms Dronsfield said there were also serious fire safety concerns in the firm’s main building which were putting staff in danger.
She said: “We have fed back our findings to the provider and told them they must make improvements as a matter of urgency. We will continue to monitor them closely to ensure that these take place.”
Among the areas of concern highlighted by the inspectors were infection control, safeguarding checks, management of stored medicines and medical gases, and that there was “no evidence the service had processes in place to share lessons learned from safety incidents”
But the inspectors also found that the service has enough staff to care for patients and “staff appeared caring and worked together to provide effective care”.
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