The CQC report published today that says the East of England Ambulance Trust requires improvement, shows an NHS under stress says Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner.

The report said that the East of England Ambulance Service needs improvement in safety, effectiveness, responsiveness and leadership. It remains rated “outstanding” for being caring. It comes after a recent independent service review concluded that the service needs extra resources, with commissioning groups agreeing to fund 330 extra paramedics and 160 new ambulances over the next three years.

Mr Zeichner said: “The NHS was gripped in crisis this winter, and the buck stops with the ambulance service. When hospitals are full and ambulances can’t hand patients over, it is little wonder that targets are missed. Despite this stress, ambulance staff in the region are described as outstanding in their caring in today’s CQC report, something they should be very proud of. The recent independent service review showed what many of us had long-suspected, that the service has been under-resourced – with extra staff and new ambulances, we should now expect to see improvements.“

“The CQC report highlights long handover times at hospitals – a very clear symptom of the NHS and social care system being under intense stress, desperately needing more resource to keep patients and staff safe. Long handover times inevitably lead to longer response times. The report praised staff working together as teams, to help patients. The Government must better resource this service, to give extremely hard working professionals the tools to do their job.”