WEST Midlands Ambulance Service has been rated as ‘outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
The CQC report follows the regulator’s inspections during the Summer of 2016.
The report specifically highlighted ‘staff were outstanding in the way that they supported patients’. and outlined the ‘hard work of staff is exemplary and making a real difference to patients’.
West Midlands Ambulance Service chief executive, Anthony Marsh, said: “West Midlands Ambulance Service is the only ambulance trust to be rated outstanding by the CQC.
“I am incredibly proud of my staff and the volunteers who support us, for providing the best possible care to patients across the West Midlands.
“Helping others is at the heart of everything we do and I am hugely pleased that the CQC saw a positive, patient centred culture within the Trust with hard working staff proud to work here and making a real difference to patients’ lives.
“Compassion is a large part of our role and I am equally proud that the report highlighted staff were outstanding in the way they support people who are distressed or overwhelmed in stressful situations.
“We will continue to do everything possible to raise our standards further.
“I would like to thank all of our staff and volunteers for their outstanding professionalism, continued dedication and hard work.”
Trust chairman, Sir Graham Meldrum, added: “This is an excellent start to 2017 not only for our staff and volunteers but for the people of the West Midlands. It is an inevitable fact that, every single day, people will call 999 for help in their hour of need. The CQC report shows that patients are receiving the highest standard of care and compassion from our staff as well as providing appropriate care in the right place and at the right time.”
The 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.”
