Twinwoods Ambulance Station

Updated 11 January 2023

Twinwoods Ambulance Station is operated by Ambulance Response Services Ltd. The service opened in April 2015. It is an independent ambulance service based in Bedfordshire providing patient transport services for the public sector. The service carried out journeys transporting patients from hospital to home or other care providers. The service also carried out high dependency journeys, transporting patients between hospitals. The service worked with local commissioners to provide a service working alongside local GP surgeries, whereby they would visit patients who were unable to attend their local surgery. The service also provided event cover; however, this was not a regulated activity, and was therefore not included in our inspection.

The service did not provide transport to patients detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.

The service is registered to provide the following regulated activity:

• Transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely.
• Treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

The service employed 29 members of staff. There was a mixture of permanent staff and bank staff. The fleet consisted of 30 vehicles and between 2 November 2021 and 1 November 2022 the service carried out 7,223 patient journeys.

The registered manager for this service had been in post since April 2015.

Updated 11 January 2023

This was the first time we rated this service. We rated it as good because:

• The service had 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. The service controlled infection risk well. Staff assessed risks to patients. The service managed safety incidents well.
• Staff provided good care and treatment. The service monitored response times. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients. Services were available 7 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. 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. People could access the service when they needed it.
• Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems. 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 to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services.

However:

• Care records were not audited to assess compliance with their completion.
• There was no clear process to identify the types of patient that could be transferred within the patient transport service.
• The service did not have a strategy for achieving the service’s vision.
• The service’s recruitment policy was not consistently followed.
• The service did not formally engage with staff and there was not an effective process in place for sharing learning from incidents and complaints with all members of staff.
• The risk register was not always reviewed within the timescales set by the service.
• The service did not systematically review performance data and use it to make improvements to the service.

Updated 11 January 2023

This was the first time we rated this service. We rated it as good. See the summary above for details.