Care Quality Commission due to publish updated report following reinspection -
Dear partner,
The Care Quality Commission will publish a report tomorrow, Friday 7 July, giving an update on their re-inspection of urgent and emergency care services in NEAS. They have shared a press release today with an embargo of 00:01 on 7 July.
The rating for urgent and emergency care has improved from inadequate to requires improvement after inspectors found the service had begun to implement changes to facilitate significant improvement that address the concerns highlighted in their last inspection.
The new report follows a targeted inspection in April and May and was a follow-up to the concerns they reported in February this year.
The domains of safety and well-led for urgent and emergency care services were re-rated to requires improvements. The overall Trust rating of requires improvement remains unchanged as other areas were not re-inspected.
So many people have worked hard to address the concerns raised by the CQC and I am pleased that their efforts are being recognised. Our swift action since the previous inspection has ensured we have made good progress.
Their report says they found evidence of positive change and improvement to the overall leadership structure within the trust and the CQC welcomed the steps that we have taken since their last inspection.
However, given the short space of time between these two reports, I recognise there is still more to do to embed the changes we’ve introduced and this latest report acknowledges that more time is needed to embed some of the systems, processes and governance structures required for sustainable improvement.
Despite the challenges of the last year, our teams continue to deliver the best care possible. We are expecting the publication of the independent review into whistle blowing allegations very soon. As soon as I have more information on this, I will be in touch to let you know.
In the meantime, I am always happy to answer any questions or concerns which you would like to discuss. Please contact lauren.o’donnell@neas.nhs.uk if you would like to meet with me.
Once the report is published, it will be available to view on the CQC website here: https://www.cqc.org.uk/provider/RX6
Our response to the report will also be available on our website following the report publication here: https://www.neas.nhs.uk/news/2023/july/3/north-east-ambulance-service-response-to-latest-inspection-report-by-care-quality-commission.aspx
Helen Ray
Chief Executive