Patient Ambulance Service ‘Inadequate’

The non-emergency patient transport ambulance service operating across the Hfm region has been branded ‘inadequate’ by health inspectors in a damning report.

The Care Quality Commission has raised numerous ‘significant’ concerns about the Thames Ambulance Service, including a lack of cleanliness and infection control, untrained staff and poor and response times not being met.

Inspectors also found issues with staff training, leadership and staff morale.

Officials do however say staff show “caring attitudes” towards patients and wanted to provide the right level of care.

There have been numerous complaints from local people recently about ambulances not turning up to take them to hospital appointments.

Thames Ambulance Service has the contract to provide patient transport across Leicestershire and Northamptonshire on behalf of the NHS.

The company has pledged to make improvements:

Derek Laird, Chief Executive said: “TASL is committed to ensuring our staff are able to provide the highest standard of service to our patients, and we are confident that we are making the improvements needed to achieve this.

“The CQC have rated TASL as good for the care we provide, and the report states that feedback from patients confirmed that our staff treated them well and with kindness.

“We have made significant improvements since 2018, some of which we were disappointed have not been fully recognised within the report. We have also been having regular meetings with NHS England and CCGs to update them on the significant progress we have made.

“However we recognise that there is still much more work for us to do in order to deliver the consistently high-quality care that patients using our services should receive.”