Outstanding result for Air Ambulance

April 2018

Outstanding result for Air Ambulance

Essex & Herts Air Ambulance (EHAAT) has been highly praised by independent healthcare regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Following an inspection earlier this year, the CQC highlighted areas of outstanding practice at the Charity’s two airbases – in North Weald and Earls Colne – with no recommendations for further improvement.

Inspectors said: “The staff’s passion and commitment for the work that they did, from the most senior to the most junior post, was exemplary.”

Stuart Elms, Clinical Director at Essex & Herts Air Ambulance, welcomed the report’s findings.

He said: “The report reflects the outstanding effort and hard work shown every day by EHAAT staff, whatever their role. It also highlights the dedication, professionalism and passion that we all have for delivering an outstanding service to our patients, whatever our roles in EHAAT.

Stuart added: “As a Charity, Essex & Herts Air Ambulance have been voluntarily registered with the CQC since 2011 to ensure the Pre-Hospital Critical Care we deliver to our patients is of the highest quality. We are immensely proud of these outstanding inspection reports which reflect the professionalism, passion and dedication of all the Charity staff as well as the amazing Pilots, Co-Pilots, Pre-hospital Care Doctors and Critical Care Paramedics that work so hard to deliver a world class service to the people of Essex and Hertfordshire.”

CQC Inspectors measure effectiveness by asking the same five questions of all services – is the service safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s need and well-led? In all cases the CQC inspectors found EHAAT to be meeting the criteria.

Inspectors looked at all areas of the Charity, from its clinical expertise, operations, staff support, customer service, feedback from patients and their families and work with other medical organisations.

It continued: “Staff treated patients with kindness, dignity, and respect. Feedback comments were 100% positive.”

Jane Gurney, Chief Executive Officer at EHAAT, said: “The Trustees and myself are very proud of the incredible commitment and hard work of all of our staff, in delivering the highest possible clinical care to the people of Essex and Hertfordshire. We are delighted that this has been clearly reflected in the CQC report. We would like to thank the people of both counties for their continued generosity and support of our life-saving work.”

The report praised the Charity’s Clinical Governance Days (CGDs) – workshops to improve clinical knowledge and to share best practice that is open to internal clinical staff and external emergency services staff for their inclusive learning opportunities.

It applauded how the Charity uses the forum to open its missions up to scrutiny and audit by external healthcare partners, including the NHS and other emergency services.

It went on to highlight the passion of the Charity’s Patient Liaison Managers (PLMs), who offer support to patients and their families following treatment. The report said: “The introduction of the Patient Liaison Manager role enabled patients to gain important information about the treatment they had received and provided support and signposting to both patients and families.”

EHAAT’s annual free-to-attend Aeromedical Conference for professionals and students in the medical industry, was also praised, with inspectors acknowledging the fully positive feedback from delegates.

To view the full report visit www.ehaat.org

-ENDS-

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Notes to Editor:

Essex & Herts Air Ambulance (EHAAT) is a Charity that provides a Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) for the critically ill and injured of Essex, Hertfordshire and the surrounding areas.

The service is provided free of charge but, unlike NHS emergency services, the Charity receives no direct funding from the Government or National Lottery. It costs £500,000 every month to keep the service operational and saving lives, and this would not be possible without the generosity and goodwill of people and businesses of Essex, Hertfordshire and beyond.

Each of the Charity’s HEMS teams consist of two Pilots, a Pre-hospital Care Doctor and a Critical Care Paramedic.

These teams, made up of highly-skilled individuals, tended to 1077 patients in 2016 and are the backbone of your local life-saving Charity.

The fleet, consisting of two Air Ambulances, and four Rapid Response Vehicles (RRVs - cars) operates seven days a week from 7am to 9pm. After sunset, the Critical Care Team continues to provide the service using Rapid Response Vehicles.

In addition, a Rapid Response Vehicle is operational on a Friday and Saturday evening from 6pm until 2am with a Pre-hospital Care Doctor and Critical Care Paramedic.