Lifesaving care given clean bill of health
CQC report on air ambulance service
THE air ambulance service charity which helps save lives across Leicestershire has welcomed a Care Quality Commission report into its standards of care.
The published report highlights the exceptional work of The Air Ambulance Service which provides the national Children’s Air Ambulance and two local air ambulances – Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA) and Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance (DLRAA).
The CQC asked five key questions across all services: are they safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well led?
Inspectors spent two days reviewing the Children’s Air Ambulance and WNAA at Coventry Airport, and DLRAA at East Midlands Airport.
The report praises WNAA and DLRAA services for being “doctor led and highly skilled”, and refers to a “high level of paramedic critical care expertise”, supported by an effective personal development system, a range of clinical skills development opportunities and specialist clinical operating procedures.
Andy Williamson, Air Ambulance Service chief executive said: “I’m delighted with this report; it clearly supports our purpose by recognising the high quality of emergency and urgent care that we deliver.
“These findings are a testament to the dedicated, professional and passionate teams that work in the delivery of our lifesaving services and to those generous people who support the charity through the giving of time or donations.
“Providing the very best care for our patients is the driving force behind everything we do and this report reflects that.
“Everyone involved should be immensely proud.”
Patients have access to timely and critical care treatment, the report details, while care is delivered in a “sensitive and dignified way and feedback from patients is very positive”. It also refers to the “clear vision and strategy” of the organisation.
All services are described as has having an “open and learning culture which is fully focused on safe, high quality patient care”.
Staffing levels and skill mix are planned and reviewed to ensure that people receive safe care and treatment at all times, and staff are fully engaged in service planning.
Commenting on the report, TAAS director of operations Richard Clayton said: “I am absolutely delighted by the CQC inspector’s findings.
“The published reports are a great reflection on a lot of hard work by the entire operations team that works tirelessly to provide exceptional patient care in often very challenging situations.
“It’s fantastic that the inspectors were able to see and articulate the passion and commitment that exists within everyone at The Air Ambulance Service.”
Deputy clinical lead Justin Squires, who worked closely with the CQC inspector on the report, commented: “Our air ambulance and rapid response services work tirelessly to save lives – it’s our absolute motivation.
“To know the services we provide have been meticulously inspected and proven to be of the highest standard is a real credit to the critical care teams and the way we are continually looking to enhance provision.
“This excellent feedback strongly supports our belief that we are doing the very best for our patients and delivering care of the highest calibre.”
The full report is available at http://www.cqc.org.uk/loca-tion/1-221712799andhttp://www.cqc.org.uk/loca-tion/1-221712836