The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance & Children’s Air Ambulance as outstanding following an inspection in August.
The service is located at Coventry airport and operates a critical care emergency service for the counties of Warwickshire, Northamptonshire and surrounding areas. It also has a base at Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland.
This inspection was carried out as part of CQC’s continual checks on the safety and quality of healthcare services.
Following this inspection, the service has been rated outstanding overall, as well as for being safe, caring and well-led. Effective and responsive were rated as good.
This was the first time the service had been rated.
Craig Howarth, CQC deputy director of operations in the midlands, said:
“When we inspected Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance & Children’s Air Ambulance, we found a service where leaders and staff were working together well to ensure people received the best possible care. The service understood what people needed, both clinically, and emotionally during stressful and worrying times.
“When we spoke to people who had used the service and their relatives, they all had praise for the way staff treated them with dignity and compassion. They were also thankful that staff took time to interact with them in a respectful and considerate way.
“Also, support continued after incidents, as a clinical liaison officer invited people and their relatives to the service, to give them the opportunity to meet the crews and ask any questions they had.
“We were impressed that the service was working with police and fire brigade colleagues to attend schools and educate the public about the risks of knife crime and speeding to encourage them to drive carefully and so they would be less likely to carry knives.
“All staff should be extremely proud of the care they’re providing to people using the service and their families. They clearly work hard to provide exceptional care and other providers of similar services should look at this report to see if there’s anything they can learn.”
Inspectors found:
- The service had enough staff to care for people and keep them safe
- Staff had the right skills and experience to provide good care and treatment and gave people pain relief when they needed it
- Staff worked well together, advised people on how to lead healthier lives, supported them to make decisions about their care, and had access to good information
- Outcomes for people who use services were positive, consistent, and regularly exceeded expectations
- People could access the service when they needed it and did not have to wait too long for treatment
- Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems, and supported staff to develop their skills and were driven to provide high-quality person-centred care
- Staff felt respected, supported, and valued
- All staff were committed to improving services continually.