Life saving East Anglian Air Ambulance given outstanding grading by CQC

The life saving East Anglian Air Ambulance has been given a clean bill of health in its latest inspection – with the CQC rating it as ‘outstanding.’

Inspectors visited the service’s base, located at Helimed House at Norwich Airport, where it covers emergencies in Peterborough, as well as Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire by air and road.

The inspection found an excellent service which was securing exceptional outcomes for local people and saving lives.

In addition to rating the service outstanding overall following the inspection, CQC rated it outstanding for all five of its key lines of enquiry – which ask whether it is safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well-led.

Zoe Robinson, CQC head of hospital inspection, said: “We were very impressed with the East Anglian Air Ambulance’s Helimed House service.

“It was exceeding the steps we would expect it to take to ensure people receive safe and effective care and treatment, despite it being newly operational.

“This meant the service was helping deliver the best possible outcomes for people and saving lives.

“Behind this success was excellent development and implementation of policies and processes, so the service was resilient to challenges and responsive to the wide range of people’s needs it encounters.

“We also found the service benefited from a patient-focused culture, which was embedded through inspirational leadership.

“Being rated outstanding by CQC is the result of considerable hard work, so I congratulate everyone at the service who achieved this high standard for the people they serve.”

Inspectors found a promotion of an open culture to reporting all types of incidents. This meant patients benefited from a culture of learning, that responded when things went wrong, to provide innovative care and treatment.

The report also highlighted the service was carrying out research into new methods of treatment and care, new technology and new procedures that were continuing to challenge the limits and risks of what treatments were safe and possible for patients, and that Learning, research and innovation was encouraged at all levels to improve patient outcomes, promote patient safety and save lives 24-hours a day, seven days a week.