CQC recognises further improvements at EEAST

The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) has made more improvements with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) removing two conditions on its licence.

Following an inspection in 2020 which identified concerns around safeguarding of patients and staff, the CQC took enforcement action which included imposing conditions to EEAST’s registration and placed the Trust in ‘special measures’.  

At a targeted inspection last year, the CQC recognised marked improvement on significant and long-standing cultural issues. As a result, the Trust’s rating for leadership was upgraded from ‘inadequate’ to ‘requires improvement’.

The CQC has now removed conditions around reporting monthly on pre-employment checks and the frequency of renewal of Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks for staff within the organisation who have changed job roles or transferred from other services.

The lifting of these conditions by the CQC came about as a result of strengthening of policies and processes at EEAST to ensure safety and robust monitoring and audit.

The move takes EEAST a step closer to coming out of ‘special measures’ and shows greater confidence in the improvements being made at EEAST.

Tom Abell, Chief Executive of EEAST, said:

“It is very pleasing news that our regulators, the CQC, continue to recognise improvements at EEAST with the lifting of these conditions on our registration. 

“When I joined the Trust in August 2021, it was clear there was much work to be done to tackle longstanding cultural and organisational issues and that it would take time to work through our improvement plans to ensure change was embedded in the Trust.

“We know there is still a lot that needs to be done and will continue our work in making EEAST a great place to work and one that provides its communities with an excellent service.”