Medi 4 Southern Regional Headquarters

Medi 4 Southern Regional Headquarters is operated by Medi 4 Ambulance Services Ltd. The service provides emergency and urgent care and a patient transport service.

We inspected this service using our focused inspection methodology. After the Care Quality Commission received information of concern about the provider we carried out an unannounced inspection on 15 December 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? During this focused inspection we looked at the domains of Safe 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 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. Staff kept good care records. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them.
• 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.

However,

• The provider was unable to provide assurance the wastewater was entering the correct drainage system and the appropriate agencies aware.
• A few staff were unaware of the correct procedures for soiled linen disposal and sharps disposals in the ambulances we viewed.
• The service did not have a formal policy for the inclusion or exclusion patient acceptance criterion when accepting patient transport journeys.
• The provider was unable to provide assurance that service level agreements in place with other organisations was enough to meet the needs of the service, with a focus on risk assessments and an acceptance criterion.
• The provider was unable to provide assurance their patient group directions met legal requirements.
• The equipment storage room was disorganised, and it was not always possible to differentiate between equipment that was in use and equipment that was awaiting repair or service.

Following this inspection, we told the provider that it should make other improvements, even though a regulation had not been breached, to help the service improve.

Nigel Acheson

Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (London and South), on behalf of the Chief Inspector of Hospitals