The Care Quality Commission
  • Ambulance service

St John Ambulance - Midlands Region

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Unit 4-7, Union Park, Navigation Way, West Bromwich, B70 9DF 0870 010 4950

Provided and run by:
St. John Ambulance

All Inspections

During an assessment of Emergency and urgent care

Date of assessment 28 March 2024.

St John Ambulance - Midlands Region is a charity that provides secure offices, crew facilities, garaging and cleaning facilities to operate their Urgent and Emergency Care Directorate from. We carried out an assessment in response to whistle blowing concerns being raised about the service. We only visited one base at Union Park as part of our assessment. We found there was a poor culture at the service. However, leaders recognised improvements were needed and an external consultant had been appointed to review the culture. Not all staff were up to date with all their mandatory training; however, compliance rates were mainly above 80%. Leaders had specific training in place relating to their role. There was a Freedom To Speak Up (FTSU) framework in place which linked with St John Ambulance-Midland’s region internal systems. FTSU advocates represented different directorates across the charity. During the on-site assessment visit we did not find any concerns in relation to equipment not being safely secured on vehicles. Staff were aware of their responsibility to ensure that equipment such as oxygen cylinders were secure. Vehicles had regular safety checks, risk assessments were in place and assurance checks took place on vehicles and equipment. Staff had disclosure and barring checks in place, with separate processes in place for volunteers. The service ran classes around equity, diversity and inclusion and there were processes in place for staff to speak up if they had concerns and there was Freedom To Speak Up advocates in place.

During an assessment of the hospital overall

St John Ambulance – Midlands Region is a large independent service that provides urgent and emergency support to NHS ambulance services, specialist NHS networks and event medical provision, only part of which falls under regulation. The service has hubs across both the East and West Midlands.

The service provides the following regulated activities:

• Transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely

• Treatment of disease, disorder or injury

The service provides the following services:Emergency and Urgent Care Services



Date of assessment 28 March 2024.

We only looked at the Safe and Well Led domain as part of this assessment.

The rating of St John Ambulance-Midlands Region remains Good overall.

02 and 04 August 2022

During a routine inspection

We rated it as good because:

  • 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. The service-controlled infection risk well. Staff assessed risks to patients, acted on them and kept good care records. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them.
  • Staff provided good care and treatment. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients and supported them to make decisions about their care.
  • Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, took account of their individual needs, and helped them understand their conditions. They provided emotional support to patients, families and carers.
  • The service planned care to meet the needs of local people, took account of patients’ individual needs, and made it easy for people to give feedback. People could access the service when they needed it.
  • 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 service’s audits did not always ensure leaders could monitor compliance fully,
  • The service did not always correctly date sharp bins when they were in use.
  • The service’s medicines standard operating procedure did not make clear whether two staff need to sign controlled drugs medicines records and we saw variable practice.
  • Not all staff had received appraisals.