Sample policy · Ambulance

Vehicle defect, MOT and roadworthiness policy (ambulance)

Statutory anchor: Road Traffic Act 1988 (vehicle roadworthiness and construction-and-use duties) and the Motor Vehicles (Tests) Regulations 1981 are the primary law for this policy. The engaged CQC duty is Regulation 12 (safe care and treatment), Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/2936), which this policy also operationalises through Regulation 15 (premises and equipment). · primary source

1. What the regulation says

The primary law for this policy is the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Motor Vehicles (Tests) Regulations 1981. The directly engaged CQC duty, quoted verbatim below, is Regulation 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, which makes vehicle and equipment safety part of safe care and treatment.

Care and treatment must be provided in a safe way for service users. (Reg 12(1) (the headline duty))

assessing the risks to the health and safety of service users of receiving the care or treatment, (Reg 12(2)(a) (risk assessment))

doing all that is reasonably practicable to mitigate any such risks, (Reg 12(2)(b) (risk mitigation))

ensuring that the equipment used by the service provider for providing care or treatment to a service user is safe for such use and is used in a safe way, (Reg 12(2)(e) (equipment safety))

where equipment or medicines are supplied by the service provider, ensuring that there are sufficient quantities of these to ensure the safety of service users and to meet their needs, (Reg 12(2)(f) (sufficient equipment + medicines supply))

Regulation 15 adds the premises-and-equipment duty that vehicle and clinical-equipment readiness supports:

All premises and equipment used by the service provider must be ... clean, secure, suitable for the purpose for which they are being used, properly used, properly maintained, and appropriately located for the purpose for which they are being used. (Reg 15(1): the six criteria)

The full text of the Road Traffic Act 1988 is at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/contents, the Motor Vehicles (Tests) Regulations 1981 at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1981/1694/contents, and Regulation 12 at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/2936/regulation/12. Where this policy and the live source diverge, the live source wins.

2. Plain-English summary

Care and treatment must be provided in a safe way. The regulation lists the areas a provider must address, including risk assessment, risk mitigation, staff competence, safe premises, safe equipment, sufficient equipment and medicines, medicines safety, infection prevention and shared-care planning. Regulation 12 is central to CQC's safety expectations. For an ambulance service the vehicle itself, and the clinical and patient-handling equipment carried on it, are part of that safety duty, on top of the separate road-traffic law that requires the vehicle to be roadworthy, tested, taxed and insured.

3. Purpose

This policy sets out how the Service keeps ambulance vehicles roadworthy, records pre-shift checks, manages defects and tracks MOT, tax, insurance and patient-handling equipment.

The Service must verify this policy against current Road Traffic Act, MOT, DVSA and CQC source material before adoption. The policy is written for independent ambulance services providing planned transport, high-dependency transfer, event medical cover or private ambulance response.

4. Scope

This policy applies to:

This policy does not replace the manufacturer's instructions, MOT requirements, insurance terms, operator-licence duties or any vehicle-specific legal duty that applies to the Service.

5. Vehicle roadworthiness process

The Service keeps a live vehicle register and uses it to plan, check and evidence roadworthiness.

5.1 Vehicle register

The Fleet Lead maintains a register for each vehicle.

The register records:

The Fleet Lead checks the register before the Operations Manager allocates a vehicle to rota or standby duty.

5.2 Pre-shift defect check

Crew complete a pre-shift vehicle check before the vehicle leaves the operating base or starts standby duty.

The check covers:

Crew record the check against the vehicle, shift, date, time and checker. The platform records the check as an assurance task. Staff record an incident only when the check fails or a defect creates a patient-safety, staff-safety, public-safety or service-continuity risk.

5.3 Defect grading

The Service grades each defect before the vehicle is used.

Crew do not override a critical defect because a job is delayed or cover is thin. The Operations Manager arranges a replacement vehicle, subcontracted transport where approved or a safe rebooking route.

5.4 Defect repair and release back to service

The Fleet Lead keeps a repair record for each defect.

The record includes:

The vehicle returns to service only when the Fleet Lead or delegated competent person records that the defect has been corrected or controlled.

5.5 Clinical and patient-handling equipment

The Service treats clinical and patient-handling equipment as part of vehicle readiness.

Staff check that:

The Service does not dispatch a vehicle where essential clinical or patient-handling equipment is missing, damaged, out of service date or unsuitable for the planned patient group.

6. MOT, service, insurance and tax control

The Fleet Lead keeps expiry-date control for each statutory and service record.

The Service records:

The Service does not allocate a vehicle where MOT, insurance or tax evidence is missing, expired or uncertain. Staff use GOV.UK check routes and the Service's own records to verify the position before a vehicle is dispatched.

7. Response to an unfit vehicle dispatched

If Staff identify that a vehicle was dispatched while unfit for use, they record an incident immediately.

The Registered Manager or Fleet Lead:

The review checks whether the defect was visible during pre-shift check, whether records were complete and whether rota pressure affected the decision to dispatch.

The Service does not set a fixed DVSA reporting threshold in this template. The Fleet Lead checks current DVSA source material, insurance terms and commissioner terms before reporting or ruling out external notification.

8. Responsibilities

9. Recording requirements

The Service keeps the following records:

Records are kept in the Service governance records and are available for internal review, CQC review, commissioner review and external review where required.

10. Audit cadence

The Service uses the following Verivius default audit rhythm unless current DVSA, MOT, CQC, insurance, commissioner or local source material requires a different rhythm:

Audit findings are recorded as improvement actions with an owner and review date.

11. Version control and review date

The Service keeps a controlled copy of this policy. The footer or document-control table records:

12. Related records

Review cadence: annual or on regulatory change, whichever sooner. Owner: Registered Manager.

13. Sources and further reading

This template is based on CQC's guidance for providers and managers, the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, and other topic-specific legislation and guidance listed below. It is a starting point for adaptation, not a substitute for legal, clinical, HR, safeguarding or specialist professional advice.

14. When to seek further advice

Seek specialist advice where the issue involves serious harm, safeguarding, deprivation of liberty, restraint, children, professional misconduct, controlled drugs, radiation, termination of pregnancy, infection outbreak, water safety, employment dismissal, DBS barring referral, or regulatory enforcement.

15. Document control

Version Date Author Changes
v1 2026-06-10 Verivius (sample) Conformed existing ambulance vehicle defect, MOT and roadworthiness policy to the Verivius policy standard. Added verbatim Reg 12 and Reg 15 quotes, plain-English summary, standard source stack and document control. Substance of the original sections preserved.

This sample policy template was issued by Verivius. It is a template, not a substitute for legal advice or the provider's own policy-development process. Where this template and live law or regulator guidance diverge, the live source wins.

What a CQC inspector checks

The same requirement seen through an ex-CQC-inspector's eyes: what they actually ask to see, and the gap they are testing for.

  1. Whether a pre-shift vehicle check is recorded against the vehicle, shift, date, time and named checker, and whether a failed check raised an incident, not just a completed tick.

    Evidence: The pre-shift vehicle check the crew record against vehicle, shift, date, time and checker (lights, tyres, brakes, stretcher, tail-lift, oxygen and suction fixtures), logged by the platform as an assurance task with an incident only where the check fails or a defect creates risk.

  2. Whether a critical defect actually took the vehicle out of service immediately, not kept it running because cover was thin.

    Evidence: The defect grading record: a critical defect removes the vehicle from service immediately until the Fleet Lead confirms repair and release, and the policy bars crew from overriding a critical defect because a job is delayed.

  3. Whether each defect has a repair record with a named person authorising release, not a vehicle quietly back in use.

    Evidence: The repair record (defect description, whether removed from service, repair provider, repair completion evidence and the person who authorised release back to service).

  4. Whether the MOT (roadworthiness test), insurance and tax were verified current before the vehicle was allocated, not dispatched on missing, expired or uncertain evidence.

    Evidence: The MOT, service, insurance and tax control record (MOT expiry date and certificate, insurance certificate and renewal date, vehicle excise duty status), verified through GOV.UK check routes and the Service's own records before allocation.

  5. Whether patient-handling equipment was in service date and matched to the patient group, not merely present on the vehicle.

    Evidence: The clinical and patient-handling equipment checks (stretchers, carry chairs, ramps and tail-lifts within service date, restraints clean, complete and functional, bariatric equipment where the job requires it), with the policy barring dispatch where essential equipment is missing, out of service date or unsuitable.

  6. Whether an unfit vehicle reaching the road was opened as an incident and root-caused, not written off as a one-off.

    Evidence: The unfit-vehicle-dispatched incident record and review, which tests whether the defect was visible at the pre-shift check and whether rota pressure drove the decision, and considers whether the duty of candour or external notification advice (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), insurer, commissioner, CQC) is needed.

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Last reviewed 10 June 2026