Our Services
MENTAL HEALTH TRANSFERS
We provide our mental health transport services for both non-emergency and emergency needs. We work with adults, children and young people. Our frontline staff are trained in a suite of mental health specific training including Safeguarding Levels 1 to 3, advanced mental health awareness and PMVA (BILD ACT accredited).
We always provide a friendly and reliable service, ensuring that each journey is safe, and patient centred. Our secure patient mental health transport services include but are not limited to the following:
● Inter-hospital transfers
● Out-of-area transfers
● Outpatient appointments
● Admissions and supporting AMHP colleagues
● 135 (1) and 135 (2) Warrants
● Court transfers
● Prison transfers
● Day trips
VKL work with both NHS Trusts, ICBs, and private healthcare provider and have been a trusted provider of secure conveyance services for over two decades. We are pleased to be the primary contracted provider in Bedfordshire to East London NHS Foundation Trust, an outstanding provider we are proud to work alongside.
VKL prioritise the well-being and dignity of every person we engage, always ensuring their safety and the safety of others. This is achieved through reducing the need for restraint and contributing to the overall well-being of our patients through therapeutic communication and support. Our skilled crews, our experienced coordinators, management team and administrative functions all work toward the common goal of providing a safe, patient-centred and efficient service.
Through continuous innovation in our bespoke training, the ongoing professional development of our staff and our own advancements in mental health ambulance design and internal systems, we aim to enhance our knowledge and expertise, thus remaining at the forefront of best practice in our industry.
At VKL we are committed to our organisational values of compassion, accountability, resilience and effectiveness. Our values not only apply to the service we deliver but the way we treat each other as a team.
TRANSFER OF FORENSIC PATIENTS / PART III TRANSFERS
VKL are experienced in working with forensic patients; we offer trained and experienced handcuff officers, if required. VKL work with forensic teams in the following:
● MHCS/MOJ recall back to hospital
● Conveyance of patients under restrictions
● Remitting a patient to prison
● Appointments, including court appointments
● Transfer under MHCS/MOJ warrant
A&E WAIT AND RETURNS
We support patients to attend A&E where required. We will transfer the patient and stay with them until they are seen and treated, or admitted. Crews will support the patient, while continuing to keep the ward updated and informed on progress. Our crews are experienced in supporting patients in this public environment and liaising with A&E teams.
Our crews are staffed flexibly, therefore if wards prefer to send their own staff with patients, we are also able to accommodate this and work with the wards around their staffing preferences.
BEDWATCH
Patients who require longer term care in general hospital or respite may still require 1:1 support from a mental health professional. We understand that this can affect staffing on the ward. VKL provide a bedwatch service to provide 1:1 or 2:1 support to escort the patient while they are resident at a general health unit.
Our bedwatch service can be provided flexibly as follows:
● Pre-booked on a continuous rolling basis
● RMN or trained care assistants as required
● Can be coupled with transport to support conveyance back to the mental health unit
● Booked ad-hoc to cover gaps in any existing provision
CONVEYANCE OF LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN
VKL work with Local Authorities to support the conveyance of children under the Children Act 1989. VKL work with Local Authority clients to select the right crew and the right vehicle so that the child is conveyed comfortably and in a way that minimises anxiety. We provide the following services:
● Conveyance under section 20 voluntary agreement
● Conveyance under Section 25 Secure Accommodation Order (SAO)
● Conveyance to a placement under the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction
Transport plans can be agreed with the client and submitted for consideration.
SUPPORT FOR PROFESSIONALS
Beyond offering patient-centred effective conveyance and bedwatch services, VKL also offer supporting services that support the client in their legal obligations to the patient:
COURT OF PROTECTION SUPPORT
VKL are experienced in supporting court of protection removal orders and working with clients to support patients under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Our specially trained coordinators will work with clients to understand the circumstances of the conveyance and devise a patient specific transport plan to submit to the court for consideration. Our plan will include a patient specific management plan, details of our service provision, staff training, and fleet offering.
RECEIPT AND SCRUTINY SERVICES
Receipt and scrutiny is the process of checking that the section papers for a patient detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 or subject to a Community Treatment Order are legally correct. Book VKL Healthcare.
VKL train all crews and coordinators to understand the key provision of the Mental Health Act 1983, to be familiar with detention papers and effectively receive and scrutinise these detention papers. This service has supported clients to avoid unlawful detentions or patients and ensure the legal authority to detain is valid throughout a patient’s detention.
TRAINING
VKL offer bite-size training sessions to clients to support the on the following:
● Common sections of the Mental Health Act 1983
● Receipt and scrutiny of commons section papers
● Conveyance and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards