THE SOUTH'S ambulance service has been told to "make improvements" after a number of concerns were raised to watchdogs.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out an unannounced inspection of South Central Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) in November.

The inspection found that the service needs to make changes to its safeguarding processes, but the overall CQC rating of 'good' was left unchanged.

Inspectors, who said concerns were raised about how the trust was delivering its safeguarding responsibilities, found that training was limited and there were no checks in place to ensure all staff completed it.

The report states that there was "conflict" among staff due to "unclear" roles and responsibilities.

Management of the team was described as "poor, with no clear accountabilities".

The report continued: "Staff were not supported appropriately, staff found it hard to raise concerns and there was no formal meeting to identify

good or poor performance or training needs.

"Service users could be placed at risk as the safeguarding team could not function effectively without effective leadership and opportunities for learning and organisational development could be missed."

Inspectors also noted that there was "not enough staff" to meet the current safeguarding demands and that risks and issues "were not always identified or raised".

The Safeguarding Adult Policy had out of date references such as to the domestic abuse definition from the Home Office (2013) rather than referencing the Domestic Abuse Act (2021).

This meant the policy was not using current legislation as a basis from which to "protect people from harm", the report said.

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.

“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.

“Following the inspection, we told the trust that it must take action to improve its processes for reporting safeguarding. I am pleased to say that the trust took immediate action and all the concerns raised are now being addressed.”

Will Hancock, chief executive of scas, 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.

“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.

“We have taken immediate action and provided assurance to the CQC and our commissioners that all concerns raised are being addressed and many have already been resolved.

“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.

“I am confident these additional measures will ensure safeguarding continues to be a high priority in SCAS and the additional focus and resources will enable us to better support our colleagues across our Local Safeguarding Boards effectively.”