We carried out a review of the data available to us about Kings Medical Services on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Kings Medical Services, you can give feedback on this service.
Kings Medical Services is operated by Mr David Chown. The service provides emergency and urgent care and a patient transport service.
We inspected this service using our comprehensive inspection methodology. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of our inspection to ensure everyone we needed to speak with was available. We carried out the inspection on 20 January 2020.
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.
The main service provided by this service was emergency and urgent care transport provided at events, the service also provided private patient transport services. On this inspection we inspected both core services.
Where our findings on patient transport services – for example, management arrangements – also apply to other services, we do not repeat the information but refer the reader to the patient transport core service.
We rated it as Good overall.
We found the following areas of good practice:
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, acted on them and kept good care records. They managed medicines well. The service managed safety incidents well.
Staff provided good care and treatment and gave them pain relief when they needed it. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients and had access to good information.
Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness. Staff respected their privacy and dignity.
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 understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work. 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 with patients and staff.
However, we found the following issues that the service provider needs to improve:
There were products on the vehicle which were past their expiry date.
Managers did not formally appraise staff’s work performance.
Leaders did not always use systems to identify and escalate relevant risks and issues and identify actions to reduce their impact.
Following this inspection, we told the provider that it should make some improvements, even though a regulation had not been breached, to help the service improve. Details are at the end of the report.
Kings Medical Services is operated by David Chown. The service provides emergency and urgent care. The service also provides a number of other activities, such as medical cover at sporting and cultural events, and repatriation transport on behalf of insurance companies, which we do not currently regulate.
We inspected this service using our comprehensive inspection methodology. We carried out the inspection on 28 November 2017.
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.
Services we do not rate
We regulate independent ambulance services but we do not currently have a legal duty to rate them. We highlight good practice and issues that service providers need to improve and take regulatory action as necessary.
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 issued the provider with four requirement notices that affected urgent and emergency services. Details are at the end of the report.
Ellen Armistead
Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (independent ambulance providers), on behalf of the Chief Inspector of Hospitals