Spark Medical North West

Updated 10 November 2022

Spark Medical North West is an independent ambulance service based in the Liverpool locality of North West England. It is run by Spark Medical Limited and has had a registered manager in place since 27 February 2020.

Spark Medical North West provides patient transport and emergency response services to several NHS ambulance and hospital trusts in the North West of England.

The service does undertake work for NHS providers within the locality of Wales, however reporting or regulating any activity within this area would not be within our remit.

We have inspected Spark Medical North West previously, however at that time it was as a different entity. We have never inspected Spark Medical North West, as it is currently registered with us, before.

For the calendar year of 2022, to the date of our inspection, the service carried out 16,766 patient transports.

Updated 10 November 2022

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 kept good care records. 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 the service met commissioned response times. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients and understood the legal framework around patients being able to make decisions about their care.

• Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, took account of their individual needs.

• 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.

• Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and 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. 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.

Updated 10 November 2022

Please see overall summary above.