The South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) NHS Foundation Trust is the first ambulance trust in the country to be rated as ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

It followed an inspection of all the services provided by the trust, with the CQC team visiting 20 ambulance stations, air ambulance sites, clinical co-ordination centres and 10 acute hospitals.

Its emergency and urgent care services were, however, rated as requiring improvement, with the CQC noting in its report that “prolonged” delays at some acute hospital’s emergency departments had “reduced the capacity” of front-line staff to respond to patient needs.

It said the number of long waits for an ambulance had “steadily increased” over time, but that action was being taken to address the increasing demand for emergency ambulance services.

The report also noted that patients and staff experienced delays when calling contact centres to find out when when transport would be available, and call response times were not met.

To try and reduce delays, a new online booking system has been introduced by the trust.

CEO Will Hancock welcomed the ‘good’ rating, saying it was “fabulous news” for the organisation to be the first of its kind in in the country to have received it.

He said: “I would like to thank our caring and professional staff for all their hard work and dedication.

“Whilst we have demonstrated excellence in several areas, there are also areas where we need to continue to make improvements.”

During its inspection, the CQC observed 13 emergency ambulance crews, seven non-emergency patient transport crews and spoke to around 350 members of staff across the trust.

The Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service (NEPTS) was seen as delivering ‘outstanding’ care to patients, as staff developed “supportive and trusted” relationships with regular users.

Mr Hancock added: “The CQC recognised that the service is operating in an environment of unprecedented demand; yet despite this we are committed to finding a way to manage that demand to enable us to meet response times and ensure that patients are responded to safely and appropriately.

“The CQC found that our staff are proud to work for the organisation; however there were pressures on the service from the demand which were affecting staff morale and work-life balance.

“This was further compounded by the national shortage of paramedics.

“The CQC acknowledged that we are actively recruiting and developing all grades of staff to improve this.”