Meriden MP, Dame Caroline Spelman has welcomed the publication a report by the Care Quality Commission which has rated the West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (WMAS) as ‘Outstanding’.
CQC carried out an announced inspection between 27 June 2016 to 1 July 2016 and conducted unannounced inspections on 13 and 14 July 2016.
WMAS serves a population of approximately 5.6 million, covers 5,000 square miles and provides services to 26 NHS trusts. It responds daily to around 3,000 ‘999’ calls and operates from 16 fleet preparation hubs across the region covering a network of over 90 ambulance stations.
The trust is currently the highest target performer across all ten ambulance trusts in England and has continually met required response times over the past year.
The inspections looked at four core services; Emergency and Urgent Care, Emergency Operations Centre, Patient Transport Services and Resilience.
Commenting on the Report, Dame Caroline said: “I am sure local residents will join with me in welcoming the findings of this report. I commend the staff at the West Midlands Ambulance Service for achieving this excellent rating; in particular those on the front line, who are working to round the clock to provide emergency care for people across our region.
“The report highlights several areas of outstanding practice within the West Midlands Ambulance Service, including: meeting response times for ‘red’ emergency calls, the availability of paramedic’s across the Service and in developing innovative and forward thinking ways to reduce hospital admissions and ambulance call outs - ensuring that A&E services are kept available to those with the greatest and most urgent need.
“However, whilst the report highlights may of the trusts strengths, I am conscious that over recent weeks a number of constituents have contacted me to raise their concerns about a small number of recent failings in the service.
“Our NHS cannot afford to be complacent, and must always strive to deliver a world-class healthcare service, that remains free to residents at the point of delivery. For that reason, I am in correspondence with senior managers at the trust to ensure that we can work to overcome these challenges which, as the report details, affect the patient transfer service in particular.
“I am extremely proud of our NHS, and would like to assure local residents that the Government remains committed to ensuring that the NHS offers the safest, highest-quality care available anywhere in the world”.
CQC’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, said:
“I am extremely pleased to announce that West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust is the first ambulance service in England to receive an outstanding rating.
“As demand for emergency care grows year by year, our ambulance services have never been busier. I know the trust is at the forefront of national improvements in the ambulance service, exploring better ways to deal with emergency calls so that people get appropriate care in the right place at the right time.
“Most importantly, the trust is effective in responding to all urgent calls that involve dealing with life-threatening or critical conditions within the required time frames.
“Inspectors saw a positive, patient centred culture within the trust and staff were very proud to work there. We observed emergency crews that worked well as part of the wider team with police, social services, community matrons, mental health teams and district nurses.
“The hard work of staff across the trust is exemplary and making a real difference to patients across the West Midlands, the trust should be very proud of this outcome.
“We did, however, find some areas where improvements were needed, particularly within patient transport services which was rated as requires improvement overall. Our inspectors will return at a later date to check on the progress of these areas”.