AN INDEPENDENT ambulance service has been assessed by the Care Quality Commission as ‘requiring improvement’ with some staff spoken to in an ‘inappropriate manner’ by management.

E-Zec Medical Wellington, which operates out of Chelston Business Park, offers non-emergency patient transport services (NEPTS) for patients who, due to mobility needs or medical condition, are unable to travel safely for medical care appointments by other means.

The Care and Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England, carried out an assessment of the organisation on August 13, 2025 and rated them as ‘requiring improvement’ in the ‘safe’ and ‘well-led’ categories.

They scored ‘good’ in the effective, caring and responsive categories.

The CQC report read: “Data indicated people were being affected by the service falling short in several key performance targets relating to timeliness, and there was an increased risk that people could be harmed due to avoidable delays, which risked compromising the continuity and consistency of care.”

As a result of stakeholder concerns, the service was said to be actively working on improvement actions in collaboration with the Integrated Care Board, the trust, and NHS England.

However, these actions had “not yet resulted in the desired improvement”.

The report continued: “Staff received regular appraisals, but some said they did not receive regular one-to-one conversations and did not feel supported by management.

“Several staff reported feeling unable to speak in confidence, with concerns raised about the handling of personal information, and some described instances where staff members were spoken to in an inappropriate and disrespectful manner.”

While the provider’s assessment showed there was enough staff to cover their contractual agreement, several staff that the CQC spoke with felt “staffing levels were not adequate for the workload”.

“Several staff felt pressured by the workload and found it difficult to take adequate breaks.

“However, there was a range of wellbeing initiatives available to support staff.”

Staff received the right amount of training to undertake their roles, the CQC say.

“There were processes for information to be shared with staff, and staff representatives were also present at team meetings.

“However, some staff did not feel information, including learning from incidents, was adequately communicated to them.”

From February to July 2025, 10,667 journeys were carried out by E-Zec Medical Wellington.

The organisation and its staff received praise from the CQC on their conduct towards patients.

“Staff treated people with compassion and kindness and respected their privacy and dignity.

“The service made every effort to take people’s wishes into account and respect their choices, including when on an end-of-life pathway.

“The service listened to patient feedback and responded to complaints.

“Patients were involved in their initial assessments, and their needs and preferences were considered during the booking process.

“Staff knew how to perform risk assessments before undertaking a journey, how to raise concerns and report incidents.”

The ambulance base was clean, tidy and secure and the vehicles checked were clean and in good condition.

E-Zec Medical Wellington has been approached for a comment.