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Warning notice served on NHS ambulance service

Martin Heath
BBC News, East of England
Steve Hubbard/BBC Side of a yellow, green and white ambulance. The words "East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust" are written on the side of the ambulance, below the trust's logo.Steve Hubbard/BBC
The East of England Ambulance Service is based in Bedford and covers six counties

A warning notice has been served on the East of England Ambulance Service Trust (EEAST).

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has issued the notice for multiple failures in several areas, including staffing levels and call wait times.

The emergency service was rated as "requires improvement" after its last inspection in 2022.

The EEAST said it had made "rapid improvements".

The ambulance service covers Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

When EEAST was last inspected, it was rated as "requires improvement" in four out of the five areas the inspectors considered.

Its only "good" rating within those five was in relation to whether the trust provided services that were "caring".

The CQC found the trust did not always:

  • Have enough staff to keep people safe
  • Keep mandatory training up to date
  • Manage clinical waste well
  • Meet agreed response times
  • Ensure staff felt respected and valued

Figures showed the response time for category one calls had deteriorated by almost 20% during the year, and only 21% of ambulances on category four calls were arriving within three hours.

Getty Images A yellow ambulance with green patches. The words "Emergency ambulance" are visible in red lettering at the top of the side of the ambulance. The trust's name is in black writing half way down the side. A rear door, with red stripes, is open. The ambulance is parked outside a hospital.Getty Images
Figures showed 79% of ambulances responding to category four calls were missing a three-hour target

The CQC has now issued a warning notice under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 for "failing to meet requirements relating to staff training, staffing levels, investigation of controlled drug incidents, call wait times, the culture of the service and acting on information from staff to develop and improve the service".

The CQC said its powers when a warning notice is issued included imposing conditions on the trust, or suspending or cancelling its registration.

Failure to comply with the steps required by the CQC could constitute a criminal offence.

Steve Hubbard/BBC Neill Moloney with short grey hair looking at the camera wearing a dark suit and yellow tie. He is sitting at a wooden desk where there is a keyboard, a laptop and two monitors on stands.Steve Hubbard/BBC
Neill Moloney, the EEAST chief executive, apologised for the performance of the trust

The chief executive of the EEAST, Neill Moloney, said: "Our patients expect and deserve good quality care from us. I am sorry that the trust has not always met this expectation.

"Following the CQC warning notice, we have made rapid improvements in the areas they identified, and we are determined to continue to improve our service to patients."

He said the steps already taken included redesigning mandatory training requirements to be more effective, and strengthening control drug handling processes.

The trust said it would continue working to improve the culture of the service.

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