Air ambulance completes hat-trick of outstanding CQC ratings

The Care Quality Commission said that the Midlands Air Ambulance's Strensham base in Worcester was "outstanding" in all categories inspected.

The inspection took place in January and was the base's first.

The service's other two sites – its headquarters at Cosford, and the base at Tatenhill – are already rated as outstanding.

The Midlands Air Ambulance Charity is the region's independent health provider of pre-hospital emergency care and treatment by helicopter and rapid response car emergency medical services.

It covers Shropshire, Staffordshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, the West Midlands and the surrounding areas, serving a population of around six million people.

The Strensham Airbase operates 365 days year with air ambulance services provided between 8am and 8pm.

This inspection was carried out as part of CQC’s continual checks on the safety and quality of healthcare services.

Following the inspection, the Strensham Airbase was rated as outstanding overall, as well as for being safe, responsive, effective, caring and well-led.

Charlotte Rudge, CQC deputy director of operations in the midlands, said: “When we inspected Strensham Airbase, we were impressed to find an extremely well-led service that went above and beyond to ensure people were responded to quickly and effectively in emergency situations.

“The service always met agreed response times and feedback from people was continually positive. People and relatives told us they were treated with kindness, respect, and dignity, and that staff provided emotional support to anyone in a traumatic situation.

“It was also positive to see that Midlands Air Ambulance Charity is open to learning and continuous improvement, and the service also reported areas of excellence so staff could learn from events that had gone particularly well. This helped staff to continuously improve and boosted morale and wellbeing.

“Leaders must also be commended for developing an extensive safeguarding system so staff could learn from child deaths, people experiencing abuse, and those treated for self-harm or injuries from attempted suicide.

“All staff should be proud of the care they’re providing to people in emergencies. They clearly work hard to provide exceptional care and other providers should look at these reports to see if there’s anything they can learn.”