THE regulator charged with ensuring health services are safe has admitted it does not know which firms are transporting patients to hospital appointments in Sussex or whether their vehicles are safe, The Argus can reveal.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told The Argus that it does not have a list of ambulance firms contracted by Coperforma to provide non-emergency patient transport around the county, insisting that it was the beleaguered company's job to check its subcontractors’ credentials.

The news comes after we reported last Friday that one private ambulance firm was not registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as it should have been, and the ombudsman could not confirm whether it had a licence or was in breach of the law.

Caroline Lucas, who brandished The Argus's story to call for greater transparency on the issue in a House of Commons debate on Monday, said: “Surely it is reasonable to expect the CQC to keep thorough records of who the subcontractors are and to cross check those records with those registered with them.

“It beggars belief that we appear to have a regulator that doesn’t insist on being told who is on the road, and who it should be regulating.

“Passing the buck variously to the subcontractor and the commissioners is not good enough. Regulation of patient safety should be watertight and responsibility crystal clear.

“It should not require the valiant investigation and persistent questioning from investigative reporters to get answers.”

On Friday The Argus reported that Docklands Medical Service, which ferried patients to and from non-emergency hospital appointments through July August and September, is not registered with the CQC.

Docklands is a subcontractor for Coperforma Ltd which has faced criticism for poor service since taking over the £63m four-year contract for non-emergency patient transport in April.

The Argus asked the CQC for a list of Coperforma’s other subcontractors but were told by a CQC spokesman: “This doesn’t fall within our remit. It’s an issue for the commissioners and the providers.”

“It’s their responsibility to ensure that the people providing this service are doing so legally.”

A spokesman clarified that all providers of regulated activity must be registered with the CQC but the responsibility lies with Coperforma to have policies in place to ensure subcontractors are registered. He said Coperforma's policies should be checked in advance by the CCG and monitored by the CQC.

Peter Kyle, MP, said: “After bringing such disrepute to the patient transport service, Coperforma and the CQC should be bending over backwards to be transparent and open about the current situation and set-up.

Both the lead CCG which awarded the contract, and Coperforma, refused to provide The Argus with a list of sub-contractors, claiming commercial sensitivity.

But a spokeswoman for the lead CCG - High Weald Lewes and Havens - said: “The CCG sees all the relevant documentation for subcontractors – this includes, for ambulance operators, a CQC licence."