An ambulance service covering part of south-east England has been issued with safety warnings over its operations, including NHS 111 calls, employment and deployment of staff, and management of medicines.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectorate has told South East Coast ambulance service NHS foundation trust (Secamb) to put matters right by 10 September. The trust, which apologised for serious failings, said changes were already being implemented following an inspection in early May.
It followed a critical independent review into an experiment under which thousands of patients had their response times delayed, without approval from board members, the 111 NHS helpline and service commissioners.
Six areas of concern were highlighted by the CQC on Monday. These included a finding that NHS 111 calls were not always responded to on time and in an effective manner.
Maintenance of kit, systems to ensure there were enough staff, and arrangements to assess, monitor and improve quality and safety of services were also criticised.
Mike Richards, the CQC’s chief inspector of hospitals, said: “On the evidence of our inspection, we have found that patients were not receiving the quality of care that they are entitled to expect, or within the timescales required.”
The trust said it was increasing the number of staff deployed to provide patient care, building a new asset register for clinical equipment and ensuring medicines practice was understood and operated appropriately by staff.
It said it was also looking at employing a new patient safety and quality director to bring together all aspects of patient safety, safeguarding and patient experience.
Geraint Davies, the trust’s acting chief executive, said it was sorry for not providing the service the communities it serves expect and deserve.
He said: “We know that there is a lot that the trust needs to do to improve compliance, with a number of systems and processes to ensure the safety of our patients.”
