South Central Ambulance Service rated inadequate in CQC report

South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) received its rating from the CQC following an inspection undertaken in April and May – dropping from a ‘good’ rating.

The inspection was prompted by concerns received about the quality of the trust’s governance and its staff training.

Just two of the six categories – are services safe and are services well-led – were rated inadequate.

And the publication comes days after it was revealed a 94-year-old Ringwood man waited six hours for an ambulance.

The elderly man fell over in Southampton Road in Ringwood shortly before 5.15pm on  August 16.

The service was first called at around 5.20pm and an ambulance arrived at around 11.20pm – six hours after the man first fell.

'Poor outcomes'

Speaking on the CQC report, Will Hancock, chief executive of SCAS said: “The CQC has highlighted some serious concerns which we must, and will, fix as a matter of urgency.

“I want to reassure everyone that we have already taken swift action, but I recognise we have more to do. Providing the best possible care to all our patients remains our top priority.”

Will Hancock. Photo: SCAS (Image: SCAS)

CQC assessed the trust’s leadership, its emergency operations centre (EOC), and the urgent and emergency care it provides to people.

And a warning notice has been issued to the trust which is required to put “immediate and significant” improvements in place.

The watchdog found issues with the trust’s governance which undermined the quality of care it provided to people.

According to the report, medicines were not always managed safely or effectively, and delays in reaching people who had requested emergency assistance were frequent and prolonged.

This resulted in “poor outcomes for some people.”

Denna Westwood, director of CQC’s south network, said: “We initially carried out this inspection of SCAS in response to concerns about the quality of the trust’s governance and training.

“However, as the inspection progressed, we identified further issues - particularly around shared learning from serious incidents and allegations against staff not being appropriately addressed.

“We also found safeguarding wasn’t being given the priority it deserved.”

'Committed to making things better'

The rating for emergency and urgent care has deteriorated from ‘good’ to ‘inadequate’.

The rating for how responsive to people’s needs the trust is has deteriorated from ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement’, while its ratings for being effective and caring remained ‘good’.

For the core services within the trust that were inspected, the rating for the EOC has dropped from ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement’.

Will Hancock added: “We have an extensive improvement plan and we are committed to making things better.

“We will keep focused on putting things right until we and the CQC are confident all the concerns have been fixed.

“It is vital that every member of our team can raise concerns with the confidence they will be dealt with quickly and effectively.

“We are also working with our partners across the NHS to manage the on-going pressures so we can improve response times and hospital handover times.”