Ambulance service improves despite 'culture' issues

An ambulance service that covers 6 million people in the south has seen its rating upgraded after "significant" improvements, an inspection body has said.

South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) saw two elements of its care move from inadequate to requires improvement, and another from requires improvement to good.

However, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said some staff felt unable to raise concerns, and criticised its safe handling of medicines.

SCAS said the upgrade was a "major achievement" which recognised the hard work of its staff.

SCAS provides emergency ambulance services across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire.

In 2022 it said it would make "rapid improvements" after a damning inspection report found bosses were "out of touch" amid concerns about safety.

However, the CQC said SCAS's emergency operations centre, which receives emergency calls from the public, had improved from 'requires improvement' to 'good'

Ambulance crews' ability to assess and treat patients during emergencies had improved from 'inadequate' to 'requires improvement', it added.

The report praised staff's kindness patients and their safeguarding abilities, and said average waiting times had been cut from 38 minutes in October 2024 to 22 minutes by March this year.

It also praised SCAS's work in training staff to communicate effectively with people with autism.

However, it said staff "didn't always manage medicines safely" meaning some patients had not "received the pain relief they needed".

It added that SCAS needed to improve its staff culture, with some feeling "unable to raise concerns".

David Eltringham, chief cxecutive of SCAS, said: "This is a major achievement, acknowledging the hard work in recent years and giving us a great start to 2026."

Helen Young, SCAS's chief nurse and executive director of patient care, acknowledged the service still needed to improve.

"I'm confident that we've already made progress since the May 2025 visit, and that there are robust plans in place to deliver further improvements into 2026," she said.

It was announced in October that SCAS would combine their senior leadership with South East Coast Ambulance Service (Secamb) sometime between 2025 and 2027.