INSPECTORS have praised the North West Ambulance Service after its first ever review – but also uncovered areas for improvement.

The services, whose trust headquarters are in Chorley New Road in Heaton, were inspected the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in August as well as a surprise visit in September.

In their assessment, released in December, the CQC said there were several areas of outstanding practice, including the way call handlers dealt with ‘frequent callers’.

Inspectors also praised the way staff helped patients in a ‘caring, committed and compassionate manner, despite the situation they were in’.

But the CQC also raised concerns that the ambulance was taking too many patients to hospital when alternative health services might be better — and is the worst in the country for this problem.

They also said the service needed to improve the allocation of vehicles to reach patients in an emergency.

NWAS is the first ambulance trust to be inspected, with doctors, nurses and paramedics visiting the organisation’s emergency operations centres, shadowing crews and speaking to patients in A&E to judge how the service was performing.

Professor Sir Mike Richards, Chief Inspector of Hospitals, said he was satisfied that the trust was safe, well led and focused on quality.

He said: “We rely on our ambulance services to be there whenever we need them – but there is so much more to a good service than simply arriving on time.

“The key to providing an excellent ambulance service is in first managing all the calls that come in to ensure that patients in need get the best possible service – whether it is from a paramedic at the scene, or in being advised to attend a walk in centre, if that’s appropriate.

“Although it did achieve all key national ambulance targets for response times last year, I note that the picture has been mixed so far this year. In terms of clinical quality, and patient outcomes, I am sure that NWAS will keep a close watch on its performance against the other ambulance trusts, to understand how it can improve its service to patients.”

Chairman of NWAS NHS Trust Mary Whyham said she was delighted the service had received praise from the inspectors.

She said: “It’s wonderful to see such a positive report and this is a result of the hard work and commitment that our staff demonstrate on a daily basis.

“We know there are still further improvements to be made and we will work closely with our patients, staff and NHS partners to continue to deliver safe and qualitative services.

“As cited in our five year plan, it is our intention to make this good organisation into a great one.”