Midlands Air Ambulance Charity - Strensham Airbase

Updated 25 April 2024

Midlands Air Ambulance Charity – Strensham Airbase is an independent provider of urgent and emergency care services using an air ambulance (helicopter) and rapid response motor vehicles (RRVs). The service provides helicopter cover across Shropshire, Staffordshire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, and the West Midlands and RRVs across Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, and Worcestershire. The service provides pre-hospital care and life saving interventions whilst transporting patients to hospital.

The provider registered with CQC to provide regulated activities from this location in February 2022. The service provides the following regulated activities:

• Transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely
• Treatment of disease, disorder, or injury
• Surgical procedures
• Diagnostic and screening procedures

The service has 2 registered managers and has not previously been inspected.

The Strensham Airbase operates 365 days year between 7am and 2am with air ambulance services provided between 8am and 8pm. The airbase has 1 helicopter and 2 RRVs permanently based there, and most staff work across the provider’s locations. The service does not deliver care and treatment to patients on site at their registered location and instead response crews use it as a base and travel to the sites of emergency calls, such as road traffic accidents, businesses, and residential addresses.

This airbase is 1 of 3 in the provider’s network and much of the quality, monitoring, and governance data are collected at provider level across all sites. Where data are available at local level, we note this in our report.

Updated 25 April 2024

We have not previously inspected this service. We rated it as outstanding because:

• The service had enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe. Managers planned staffing in collaboration with other regional providers. Staff had extensive, highly specialised training in key skills and understood how to protect patients from abuse.
• The service controlled infection risk well using specialised equipment and vehicle adaptations. Staff assessed risks to patients, acted on them and kept good care records. They managed medicines well. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them across multidisciplinary boundaries. Staff collected safety information and used it to improve the service.
• Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service through a programme of continual auditing and benchmarking. They made sure staff were competent by providing a programme of continual professional development.
• Staff provided good care and treatment and gave patients pain relief when they needed it. The service met agreed response times and worked collaboratively with partners to meet demand. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent.
• Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, took account of their individual needs, and helped them understand their conditions. They provided emotional support to patients who were often treated in trauma situations.
• The service planned care to meet the complex, urgent needs of people, took account of patients’ individual needs, and made it easy for people to give feedback. People and partner organisations could access the service when they needed it.
• Leaders ran services well using innovative, tested information systems, and supported staff to develop their skills. Staff and stakeholders understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work. They felt respected, supported, and valued.
• The service engaged meaningfully with patients and the community to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services through research and exploration of new evidence-based practice.

Updated 25 April 2024

We rated this service as outstanding. Please refer to the main summary.