Hoes Farm

Updated 27 January 2022

Hoes Farm is a private ambulance service operated by Platinum Ambulance Service Ltd. The service opened in 2016 and mainly provided patient transport, medical repatriation and event medical cover for communities in Sussex. In 2018 it acquired a neighbouring private ambulance service which allowed it to rapidly increase its fleet of vehicles. It now has a contract with an NHS ambulance trust and responds to approximately 1800 urgent and emergency calls per month. In addition, it undertakes 200 NHS patient transport journeys per month. It has specially equipped ambulances for adult and children’s critical care transfers between hospitals. At the time of inspection, it did not carry out ad hoc, private patient transport journeys.

The registered manager had been in post since the service opened. We last inspected the service in February 2020 and rated it as good.

The main service provided by this ambulance service was emergency and urgent care. Where our findings on emergency and urgent care – for example, management arrangements – also apply to other services, we do not repeat the information but cross-refer to the main service.

Updated 27 January 2022

Our rating of this location stayed the same. 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, acted on them and kept good care records. They managed medicines well although some records needed more detail. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them. Staff collected safety information and used it to improve the service.
• Staff provided good care and treatment, and gave patients pain relief when they needed it. The service mostly met agreed response times. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients, advised them on how to lead healthier lives, supported them to make decisions about their care, and had access to good information.
• 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 and did not have to wait too long for treatment.
• Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems, but governance information was not always shared with staff. Leaders supported staff to develop their skills. Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work. Staff felt respected, supported and valued and they were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities. The service engaged well with patients and the community to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services continually.

However:

• Medicines records did not always contain enough detail.
• Managers did not share learning from incidents, complaints and other governance information with all staff.

Updated 27 January 2022

Our rating of this service stayed the same. We rated it as good

The patient transport service is a small proportion of ambulance activity. The main service was emergency and urgent care. Where arrangements were the same, we have reported findings in the emergency and urgent care section.

We rated this service as good because it was safe, effective, responsive and well-led. There was not enough evidence to rate caring.

Updated 27 January 2022

See the overall summary for more information.