A North East council leader has refused to criticise ambulance service bosses, despite a damning inspection report that raised concerns about patient safety.
The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) has been told it “requires improvement”, while its leadership and emergency care has this week been branded “inadequate”. Troubling findings from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) included ambulance crews responding to emergencies without access to medications, such as morphine.
The watchdog also said that more than half of staff surveyed at NEAS "did not feel safe to report concerns without fear of what would happen as a result”, while inspectors also highlighted concerns that "leaders are not thoroughly investigating incidents and are making decisions based on limited information". After the damaging assessment was published on Wednesday, Newcastle City Council leader Nick Kemp was asked that night whether he still has confidence in NEAS’ leadership.
Replying to an emergency question from city Lib Dem opposition leader Colin Ferguson, the Labour chief blamed Government under-investment and the “immense strain” caused by the Covid pandemic for the ambulance service’s woes. Coun Kemp, who told a full council meeting that he had not read the CQC report in detail, also asked whether it was “helpful to question our confidence in each other at a time when we should be supporting each other”.
He said: “This report is based on inspections made in July and September last year and I am pleased to hear NEAS confirm that they have taken swift action in the six months since the first inspection and have provided additional assurances to the CQC that this work will ensure effective systems are in place to keep patients safe. I note the point raised by NEAS that no ambulance service in the country is achieving national performance standards and that, despite that, NEAS remains one of the best-performing services for response times, particularly for the highest-level life-threatening incidents.
“I also note that the CQC report maintains a caring rating of ‘good’ for NEAS, acknowledging the treatment of patients with compassion and kindness and with respect for privacy and dignity. As NEAS rightly states, investment in their workforce is key to successful delivery of improvement action . The results of systematic underfunding of this service from the Government are clear.”
On the day that 500,000 workers across the country went on strike, Coun Kemp added: “It is timely in light of today’s strike action and illustrates why it is so important to stand up for the funding services need to safely serve our residents. Under-investment threatens lives and livelihoods.”
NEAS staff had told the CQC that they feared being "scapegoated" for speaking up, with the regulator having received 11 whistleblowing concerns in the last six months. The CQC's deputy director of operations in the North said the deterioration in services "had potential for people to be placed at risk of harm".
Responding to the report, NEAS chief executive Helen Ray said that the service had "taken swift action", though she said her team "recognise there is more to do". She added: “Over the last 12 months the ambulance service and the NHS as a whole has faced unprecedented pressures, the likes of which we’ve never experienced.
“Providing the best possible care to all our patients remains our top priority. We are all committed to making improvements until we and the CQC are confident that the concerns raised have been fully addressed.”
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