The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England. Following an unannounced, comprehensive inspection by the CQC in May, E-zec is delighted to report that the CQC has rated its Shropshire operations as ‘Good’.

During the CQC’s inspection, they spoke to 14 E-zec colleagues, including ambulance care assistants, control room colleagues, supervisors and managers. The inspection team checked eight vehicles, reviewed five patient records and six colleague records, primarily at the company’s Shrewsbury dispatch centre.

The CQC’s inspection covers five key lines of enquiry that they ask of all care services that they inspect. These are: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive to People’s Needs and Well Led.

Highlights from the CQC’s inspection include:

• The service had mostly 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. 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 collected safety information and used it to improve the service.

• Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients and had access to good information. Key services were available seven days a week.

• Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, took account of their individual needs, and helped them understand their conditions. Staff told us 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.

• Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and supported staff to develop their skills. Most 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.

E-zec’s CEO Craig Smith was keen to align the Shropshire report with recent local quality inspections at E-zec’s operations in Dorset and Ipswich, saying: “As a business being ‘Committed to Care’ and ‘Listening, Learning, Adapting’ are two of our core values and underpin the way we behave and act. Following some developmental feedback from the CQC in last year’s Suffolk inspection, we have had a real focus on our quality strategy. It is really pleasing to see the progress made, which has now been recognised externally by two ICB quality leads and now the CQC. Of course there is always a lot more for us to do and we will continue to ensure quality remains an absolute priority for us with clear action plans to track progress.”

The CQC’s full report can be found here:

https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-11654148478

About E-zec Shropshire:

E-zec Shropshire’s contract is to provide 95,000 patient journeys for children and adults each year across Shropshire and Powys. The types of journeys patients undertake includes: renal dialysis, outpatients appointments, discharges, admissions, transfers, oncology, palliative care, paediatric transport, bariatric transport, and GP transfers. In addition to standard patient transport services, E-zec provides a dedicated renal manager to provide enhanced support for dialysis patients across the region, a shuttle service linking the two acute NHS hospitals in Shropshire, plus a support service to facilitate the discharge of long-stay patients and their equipment.