Cara Ambulance Service

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Implementing a Quality and Safety Management System in line with the Joint Commission International standards for Medical Transport

Cara Ambulance Service Ltd is a specialised patient transfer service which provides services for both the private health industry and the Health Service Executive. Cara Ambulance aspires to be a clinically led, high-performance ambulance service providing high-quality pre-hospital and inter-hospital facility transport.

“We always strive at Cara Ambulance to provide a high quality, high performance, patient centred service. With the Joint Commission International’s presence within the acute sector so highly recognised we saw the accreditation process as an opportunity to ensure we could achieve and maintain such a high quality service” explains John McShane, Cara Ambulance. “JCI Accreditation has put more structured process into place and gives better insight into patient service, ultimately leading to an overall more professional and effective service.”

“We knew undergoing the JCI process we were going to need support, and with Health Care Informed’s past experience with JCI Accreditation we knew we were investing in the knowledge that could support our accreditation journey. HCI were open minded to all our needs and provided a professional service to help us improve the quality and safety of care we provide and service delivery through the ongoing development of an effective and accessible Quality and Safety Management System. HCI guided us in meeting the JCI Accreditation Standards for Medical Transport Organisations through effective procedural development and worked hands on with our staff to ensure everyone was confident in the role they play in ensuring our Quality Management System delivers real change and value for the organisation.”

“Throughout the process HCI’s team provided an excellent service. They worked with our staff developing and implementing policies and procedures and embedded Quality in our organisation. HCI ensured that the foundations for maintaining a high level of quality were in place through team meetings, policy reviews and highlighted the importance for ongoing improvement. Through their support we now have staff that work together to ensure that patients receive the highest quality service and we are confident that we can continue at this level. ”

“There was challenges along the way, the JCI standards are very detailed and cover Orgainsational Management Standards and Patient Centered Standards. The implementation of the standards required a lot of extra work to bring our existing Quality Management System to JCI Standards. We feared that implementing the standards would increase workloads and become unmanageable. HCI gave greater understanding of what was required and communicated this effectively with Management and staff. HCI ensured everybody was guided with clear information and supported so that full understanding of how the standards were going to be brought to life and embedded in the organisation was understood by everyone.”

John concludes: “We are delighted at Cara Ambulance that we are fully accredited by the Joint Commission International and now have, not only a Quality Management system that reflects best practice as identified by national requirements, but also a system that is recognised internationally that aims to assure and promote continuous improvement in all areas of care and service. Health Care Informed’s guidance and knowledge of JCI standards was paramount in our accreditation journey. The process was very challenging and required commitment but we are delighted with what we have achieved with the help of HCI.”

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