London Ambulance Service has been taken out of special measures and commended for its response to last year’s terror attacks in London and the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
The ambulance service was rated as ‘outstanding’ for being caring and ‘good’ overall by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following its most recent inspection.
It was previously rated ‘requires improvement’ after an inspection in February 2017 and had been in special measures since 2015.
Professor Ted Baker, England’s chief inspector of hospitals, said the improvements made to leadership and staff were “especially commendable – and especially necessary – given the major incidents the trust has responded to over the past year, including terrorist attacks and the Grenfell Tower tragedy”.
Reacting to the news, London Ambulance Service chief executive Garrett Emmerson, who joined the trust in May last year, said: “I am delighted the dedication and hard work of staff throughout the service has been recognised by the CQC.
“In particular, I want to thank staff for continuing to provide outstanding care.
“The CQC again gave London Ambulance Service the highest possible rating for the care we give to patients and I am extremely proud our incredible frontline staff have been recognised in this way.”
Mr Emmerson said he hoped to see the trust rated ‘outstanding’ overall in two years’ time.
“We know we still need to make improvements and we have been doing so since the inspection that put us into special measures back in 2015,” he said.
“We have made some big changes in how we operate, but I want us to improve even further, with the aim of being rated ‘outstanding’ overall, in two years’ time.
“We want to be a world-class ambulance service for a world-class city and the news that we are no longer in special measures brings us much closer to realising that ambition.”
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan added: “I welcome [the] announcement by the Care Quality Commission that London Ambulance Service has been rated ‘good’.
“This recognises the improvement in the service provided to Londoners by the trust over recent months. My thanks go to all of the staff at the London Ambulance Service who made this possible and who work tirelessly for Londoners every day.”
LAS is the busiest ambulance service in the country and one of the busiest in the world, covering an area of approximately 620 square miles.
To read the report in full, visit: http://www.cqc.org.uk/provider/RRU.