Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance & Children's Air Ambulance

Updated 8 March 2024

Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance & Children’s Air Ambulance service is located on the airfield at Coventry Airport on the outskirts of the city of Coventry. It operates a critical care emergency service for the counties of Warwickshire and Northamptonshire and surrounding areas. It also has a base at Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland.

The registered provider with CQC, The Air Ambulance Service, is a charitable trust established in 2003, operating from HQ in Rugby, Warwickshire. It operates across a geographical area of around 3,850m² and completes around 10 missions by helicopter each day with an average response time of around 13 minutes. In 2023, the organisation reached the milestone of 50,000 missions undertaken.

At the Coventry Airport site, the service operates an air ambulance helicopter which flies in daylight hours and safe weather conditions, and a Rapid Response Vehicle (RRV) which operates during nighttime hours and when the helicopter is offline. The service employs doctors and critical care paramedics trained and experienced in critical care medicine, trauma, surgical procedures and anaesthesia. The service operates under separate Service Level Agreements with 2 local NHS ambulance trusts and provides emergency care and treatment to adults and children of all ages.

The service is registered to provide diagnostic and screening procedures; surgical procedures; transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely; and treatment of disease, disorder or injury. The service has a registered manager who has been in post since 2015. The service was last inspected in 2017 (published 2018) and this was before CQC had the power to rate independent ambulance services. There were no legal requirements placed in the service at the last inspection. This most recent inspection comes with CQC’s power to rate the service.

Updated 8 March 2024

This service had been inspected before but not rated. We rated it as outstanding because:

• The service had enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe. Staff had the right skills and experience to provide good care and treatment and gave patients pain relief when they needed it. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients, advised them on how to lead healthier lives, supported them to make decisions about their care, and had access to good information.
• All staff were actively engaged in activities to monitor and improve quality and outcomes (including, where appropriate, monitoring outcomes for people once they have transferred to other services). Opportunities to participate in benchmarking and peer review were proactively pursued. Outcomes for people who use services were positive, consistent, and regularly exceeded expectations. Staff took part in community initiatives with other providers to reduce the incidences of knife crimes.
• The continuing development of the staff’s skills, competence and knowledge was recognised as being integral to ensuring high quality care. Staff were proactively supported and encouraged to acquire new skills, use their transferable skills, and share best practice.
• People were truly respected and valued as individuals and are empowered as partners in their care, practically and emotionally. 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, families and carers.
• The service planned care to meet the needs of local people, took account of patients’ individual needs, and made it easy for people to give feedback. People could access the service when they needed it and did not have to wait too long for treatment.

The leadership, governance and culture were used to drive and improve the delivery of high-quality person-centred care. Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and supported staff to develop their skills. Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work. Staff felt respected, supported, and valued. They were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities. The service engaged well with patients and the community to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services continually.

Updated 8 March 2024

The service had been inspected but not rated before. We rated it as outstanding.

See the overall summary for details.

Updated 14 March 2018

The service was well led with experienced and capable leaders who drove improvements in the service with a focus on the best possible care in emergency situations for patients in need. The leaders promoted a positive staff culture and encouraged staff development to deliver the best possible care and treatment for all patients. Effective systems were in place to ensure patients received safe and high quality care and treatment at all times.