An ambulance service has been told to improve the way it protects patients from abuse after concerns were raised by inspectors.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told South central Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) to make improvements to its safeguarding process.
CQC carried out an unannounced focused inspection in November to check on the safety and quality of its safeguarding governance processes and systems, after a number of concerns were raised to inspectors.
CQC found the safeguarding policies to be “ambiguous” and their training “limited”.
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Nigel Acheson, CQC’s deputy chief inspector for hospital inspection, said: “We undertook this inspection of South Central Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust because of concerns raised to us about how the trust was delivering its safeguarding responsibilities.
“Staff on the front line were protecting patients from abuse and the service worked with other agencies to ensure this was happening. However, the trust’s safeguarding policies were noted to be ambiguous.
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“Safeguarding training was limited and there were no checks in place to ensure all staff completed it. Leaders and teams were not using systems to manage safeguarding reporting and risks and issues were not always identified or raised. There were also not enough staff to meet current safeguarding demands."
Immediate action was taken by SCAS and it has developed an action plan to review its training.
Will Hancock, Chief Executive of South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, said: “I am pleased the CQC inspection found that patients using SCAS services were safeguarded and referrals were appropriate but it also highlighted some areas of governance and training which require focus and improvement. We welcome the CQC’s input to help us continuously improve our services.
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He added: “SCAS takes this feedback very seriously and had commenced a review prior to the inspection, including the resourcing of the safeguarding team and the way we manage safeguarding. Like many NHS organisations, we have faced considerable and sustained pressure through the pandemic and operational pressures impacted on our ability to deliver some elements of training during this period.
“The CQC highlighted that SCAS staff had an understanding of how to protect patients from abuse and neglect and worked closely with other agencies to do so. The inspection team also reported increases in the number of safeguarding referrals being made to local authorities by SCAS.
“We have developed a comprehensive action plan which includes an external review of all of our policies and training, and an independent review of the team. We have brought in an interim safeguarding expert to support the delivery of the action plan and wider team.”
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