Great Yarmouth ambulance patient transport service suspended

The suspension of patient transport and urgent and emergency care at Grange Farm continues until the CQC "is assured the service can provide safe care"

A private ambulance service has been suspended from transporting patients after inspectors said there was an "unacceptable risk" of harm.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated Grange Farm in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, as inadequate.

The watchdog said 16 staff were suspended and its registered manager resigned after the inspection.

Ikon Ambulance Services Ltd, which runs the Grange Farm service, said it had employed "new policies and procedures".

'Exposed'

"When we aren't assured people can be cared for safely, we don't hesitate to act," said the CQC's head of hospital inspection, Zoe Robinson.

"Grange Farm's operating procedures were unfit for purpose, which exposed people using it to an unacceptable risk of avoidable harm."

Ikon Ambulance Services typically provides first aid support at events such as stock car racing, horse shows and agricultural shows - a service which is not part of its registration with the CQC.

However, inspectors said any medical transportation of patients from events, such as to hospital emergency departments, was regulated by the CQC.

Following the inspection at Grange Farm on 6 September, the watchdog concluded:

• Safety systems, processes and standard operating procedures were unfit for purpose

• The service did not evidence staff had training in key skills

• The service did not control infection risk well

• Medicines were not managed well

• Response times or the effectiveness of the service were not monitored

The CQC said the service suspended 16 members of staff after the visit because there was no record of a DBS check in their file.

The registered manager was not available during the inspection and by the following day they had resigned, inspectors reported.

'Visibly dirty'

The CQC said Grange Farm's operating base was a static caravan, using water from a tap and hose, and said the staff portable toilet was covered in spider webs.

It said the interior of all five vehicles was "visibly dirty".

The report noted Grange Farm had key services available seven days a week, adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) and enough staff to care for patients.

The CQC's 12-week suspension of Grange Farm's registration, which covered patient transport and urgent and emergency care, ended last month and it said a second inspection took place on 29 November.

The suspension continues until the CQC "is assured the service can provide safe care".

A spokesman for James Paget University Hospitals said Ikon Ambulance Services began a contract with it in November

An Ikon Ambulance Services spokesman said: "We acknowledge that the way in which we document and evidence our governance needed overhauling and have employed new reporting systems, new senior managers and new policies and procedures.

"These developments have enabled us to complete all the recommended actions within the report."

The spokesman claimed the vehicles had returned from an equestrian event when they were inspected, and added: "To deem a vehicle unclean without consideration for our business model is unfair and inaccurate."

Grange Farm is a base for Ikon Ambulance Services Ltd, near Great Yarmouth

The CQC said the company did not have an NHS contract at the time of the September inspection, but it started a contract in November with the James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust providing staffing support in its new ambulance handover unit - a service that was not subject to the suspension.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council confirmed it used Ikon to provide medical support at previous events, such as the 2022 Easter Fair, but had no "ongoing agreement".