St John Ambulance rated 'Good' across the board

All St John Ambulance services regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have all been inspected and rated as 'Good', including some outstanding practice.

The charity, which started a four-year contract with NHS England to provide the nation's ambulance auxiliary in August, scored highly across all four of its regions, plus its Sussex-based homeless service.

Commenting on improved ratings Craig Harman, Director of Health and Volunteering Operations at St John Ambulance, said: "I am proud, delighted and humbled to report that all St John Ambulance services regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have been inspected and rated as 'Good', including some outstanding practice.

"Our charity, which started a four-year contract with NHS England to provide the nation's ambulance auxiliary in August 2022 and has already delivered almost 20,000 hours of support in just three months, scored highly across all four of our regions, plus the Sussex-based homeless service.

"This is a great improvement on our previous CQC ratings, and we are going from strength to strength during a time when we are still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic and seeing more and more challenges arising in health and social care. In that context, I feel we should recognise what a massive achievement it is for our crews to get such a rousing affirmation from the Care Quality Commission.

"It's particularly moving to see how our people were noted for - as the CQC put it - showing extensive 'compassion and kindness' to patients because those are our values and that's what St John is all about.

"Outstanding practice was noted in three of the four reports into ambulance services, with St John's commitments to investing in fleet and improving organisational culture, plus the contribution of skilled volunteers in caring for patients was highlighted.

"Ambulance hubs inspected included St John premises in London, West Bromwich, Stockport and Brighton. And St John's Homeless Service, which operates in Brighton and Hastings, was also rated as good, with outstanding features.

Providing the best training

"But what does this mean? It means that we strive to give our volunteers and staff the best training, by qualified trainers, which is consistent across the board to ensure everyone is working to the same standard.

"It means that when patients are cared for by St John Ambulance, they can rest assured that our services have been checked by a regulator who looks to ensure we meet the required legal, quality and safety standards.

"At heart, we are an organisation that cares - it's hard-wired into the DNA of St John people - and those who work and volunteer for us tend to do so primarily because they want to help other people.

"I am extremely proud of all St John people, not just because of our recent CQC results, but because of every single day that they are out there, making a difference to those in their community."

Praise for staff and volunteers

Craig continued: "And I'm not just proud of the teams who serve on the front line. There are so many people behind the scenes who help to keep the cogs turning; unsung heroes, such as HR staff, logistics, fleet and facilities teams to name just a few, who are all experts in their fields and ensuring everything is in place and running smoothly so our clinicians can deliver the best possible care. We are one St John and the whole team does an amazing job.

"As an organisation, we are working hard to maintain these standards and as part of this we are investing in our infrastructure, staff and volunteers. As with everything, there is always room for improvement, and we thrive on giving the very best service we can to those we care for whilst constantly looking for ways to better ourselves in the years to come.

"The last few years have seen a renewed focus on rationalising and upgrading our structures, standards, fleet and facilities, to ensure St John has the infrastructure it needs to deliver high quality services.

Consolidating operations

We have consolidated our operational activity to 36 hubs, and we are investing in further improvements for the future. Building work is currently underway at a new 18,000 square feet site at the heart of England in Castle Donington, which will serve as our new ambulance hub for Leicestershire, the wider East Midlands region and further afield. Construction is scheduled to be completed early in 2023, when we will look to move in, together with NHS colleagues as the Midlands Critical Care Services transfer from Newark."

Commenting on the reports he said: "All four of the CQC reports on our ambulance service mention that the service had enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe. Staff had training in key skills, understood how to protect patients from abuse, and managed safety well. The service controlled infection risk well. Staff assessed risks to patients, acted on them and kept good care records. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them. These are essential standards, but everyone at St John works hard to maintain them and we take nothing for granted.

"We've had an increase from 800 to 1,000 people in our blended team of employed and volunteer emergency ambulance crew, thanks to our recent recruitment drive, which will help enable us to plan our workforce better when supporting surge activity.

"In addition, our first quarter as the nation's official ambulance auxiliary has been a great success - with St John providing 18,985 hours of ambulance support from August to October this year.

"To be rated this highly across all five of our regulated services is a powerful endorsement of the incredible effort all St John people put in to ensure the care we deliver to patients is professional and compassionate.

"I could not be prouder of our people for their continuous dedication and commitment to the provision of high-quality care.

"At St John Ambulance, we are always on the lookout for new staff who want to be part of a caring organisation. If you think you've got what it takes, visit www.sja.org.uk/careers-at-sja to view our paid roles.

"Additionally, volunteering with St John is not just for first aiders, but includes a range of other roles too. If you're looking for an opportunity to make a difference and give your time to your community, alongside great people, for an amazing charity, visit our website to view the range of roles we have available at www.sja.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer-opportunities/who-can-volunteer-with-us

About Craig Harman

Craig joined St John Ambulance in 2019 having spent 17 years in the NHS ambulance service both in London and Scotland, most recently as the head of operations at the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust. As qualified ambulance crew Craig routinely continues to care for patients whilst also experiencing the changing demands of ambulance staff. Outside of St John, Craig has previously advised the Care Quality Commission, is a member of the NHS Assembly and a trustee for his local Food Bank.