Midlands Air Ambulance Charity Rated As Outstanding By CQC

[Image caption: Midlands Air Ambulance Charity staff and aircrew celebrate their 'Outstanding' rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).]

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated the Headquarters and Airbase (previously known as Cosford airbase), as well as the Tatenhill Airbase, run by Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, as outstanding following its first inspection in August and September.

Midlands Air Ambulance Charity is an independent health provider of pre-hospital emergency care and treatment by helicopter and rapid response car emergency medical services. It covers Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, the West Midlands and the surrounding areas, serving a population of around six million people.

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

Following the inspection, both services have been rated outstanding overall, as well as for being safe, responsive, effective and well-led. Caring was rated as good.

Andy Brand, CQC deputy director of operations in the Midlands, said: “When we inspected Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, we were impressed to find two extremely well-led services that went above and beyond to ensure people were responded to quickly and effectively in emergency situations.

“Both services always met agreed response times and feedback from people was continually positive. People and relatives cared for by both services, told us they were treated with kindness, respect, and dignity. A compliments report showed 45 compliments had been received where people and their families wanted to express special thanks to staff.

“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.

“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.”

Hanna Sebright, chief executive of Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, added: “Since April 2022, there has been a period of transformational change for our organisation which has seen us combine our clinical operations with our headquarters office function, bringing our clinical and non-clinical team under the same roof for the first time.

“We are extremely proud of the ‘outstanding’ CQC rating for Cosford and Tatenhill, which we achieved just 19 months after our initial CQC registration. This fantastic achievement, highlights our commitment to the patients we treat within the communities we serve, providing the best pre-hospital care to those in critical need.”

Inspectors found at both services:

• Staff carried out daily safety checks of specialist equipment including defibrillators and blood giving equipment.
• They planned care to meet the needs of local people, took account of people’s individual needs, and made it easy for people to give feedback.
• Staff provided emotional support to people, families, and carers.
• Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and supported staff to develop their skills.
• Staff completed safety briefings prior to flying, which included consideration of notifications such as fuel availability, weather, sunset times and any events or hazards.
• Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent.
• Mandatory training was comprehensive and met the needs of people and staff.

Find out more about Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s CQC rating here.

Read more about the Care Quality Commission via the CQC website.

If you have been treated by Midlands Air Ambulance Charity and would like to find out more about your incident or provide feedback, please contact the team via patientliaison@midlandsairambulance.com