Hearts First Ambulance Service rated Outstanding by CQC

 Hearts First Ambulance Service, the independent ambulance provider specialising in medical repatriation and patient transport, has been rated Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), making it the only ground ambulance service operating in the UK to hold the regulator's top rating.

Of the 379 ground ambulance services registered with the CQC, Hearts First is the only one to be rated Outstanding overall – including Outstanding ratings for how safe, effective and well-led it is, alongside Good ratings for caring and responsiveness.

Andy King, Managing Director of Hearts First, said: “I am unbelievably proud of everybody who works for Hearts First. This has been a personal goal of mine for four years. But this isn't about me, it's about everybody. Our road staff and operations staff have achieved this rating. They've worked together unbelievably hard, and all I do is direct and steer the ship.

“In 2022, immediately after the pandemic, we were rated Requires Improvement. Covid was an incredibly difficult time for us as we lost both of our compliance officers, and our compliance around staffing suffered as a result. To go from there to Outstanding, jumping two grades in one assessment, is almost unheard of.

“It has taken four years of hard work from our current compliance team, our business advisers, and the rollout of PEARL, our bespoke Enterprise Resource Planning system, which now brings every part of the organisation together. We also implemented the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) into our business management structure, which has given our middle management the ability to take real ownership and accountability, both to themselves and to the senior team.”

Sarah Ivory-Donnelly, CQC's deputy director of hospitals in the East of England, said: “When we inspected Hearts First Ambulance Service, we found significant improvements had been made since our last inspection and feedback had been taken on board to ensure people now received an exceptional level of care.

“It was evident that staff treated people with kindness and compassion, while also protecting their privacy and dignity. Staff were people focused and understood their role when delivering person-centred care.

“Overall, leaders and staff should be incredibly proud of the work they have done to improve the service to such a high standard and provide outstanding care for people.”

Hearts First specialises in ground ambulance medical repatriation, including long distance European transfers – bringing British travellers home when they fall ill or are injured abroad, working directly with travel insurers to plan and deliver the safest, fastest route home. Its High Dependency Unit (HDU) ambulances meet patients at UK airports, including those arriving by air ambulance, and the company also runs a fleet of non-emergency patient transport vehicles carrying out NHS-commissioned planned hospital appointments and hospital discharges.

The rating caps a four-year turnaround for the company, which was rated Requires Improvement at its last inspection in 2022, in the aftermath of the pandemic. Jumping two grades in a single assessment is, according to the company's leadership, virtually unheard of in the sector.

Hearts First operates nationally and is based in Radlett, Hertfordshire, with additional vehicles stationed in Manchester and Scotland. It employs 45 back-office staff and around 150 road staff, including contractors.

As a director of the Independent Ambulance Association, Andy King is also using the rating to make a wider case for the independent ambulance sector. He said: “The public often assumes the independent sector exists purely to take money out of the NHS. In reality, we are an integral part of the health system, supporting the services the NHS doesn't have the capacity or budget to deliver itself. For Hearts First to achieve an Outstanding rating shows what the independent sector is capable of, and I hope it demonstrates that independent providers can be safe, forward-thinking, and can help raise standards across the whole system.

“This is ultimately about public safety, whether that's NHS or private ambulance work, or even event medicine. That's why we've ensured all of our staff, not just our paramedics, are registered with the Health Practice Associates Council. It's one more way of making sure nobody with poor practice can simply move between providers unnoticed.”