South Western Ambulance Service improves across five inspected services

Five services operated by South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust have been rated good following inspections by the Care Quality Commission.

Inspectors assessed emergency and urgent care, emergency operations centres, Tiverton Urgent Treatment Centre, resilience and the patient transport service on the Isles of Scilly between April and July. The trust’s overall rating remains good.

Emergency and urgent care improved from requires improvement to good, with its previous regulatory breaches addressed. Inspectors praised staff for treating people with exceptional kindness and found that the average time between a stroke-related 999 call and arrival at hospital had fallen from two hours and 20 minutes in 2021 to one hour and 41 minutes.

The emergency operations centres retained their good rating, while caring was rated outstanding. Call handlers answered 999 calls faster than the national average, and closer working with mental health services helped ensure people received specialist support while freeing ambulance crews for life-threatening emergencies.

Tiverton Urgent Treatment Centre was again rated good. In April, it treated 1,837 people who might otherwise have attended an emergency department, while consistently meeting targets for triage, treatment and discharge.

The Isles of Scilly patient transport service improved from requires improvement to good overall. However, its leadership rating rose only from inadequate to requires improvement, and inspectors identified regulatory breaches involving safe care and the management of the service.

CQC also raised concerns about workforce wellbeing in emergency and urgent care. More than half of staff reported feeling unwell because of work-related stress during 2025, while some said they received less than 15 minutes to recover after traumatic incidents before being sent to another call.

The resilience service was downgraded from outstanding to good, although inspectors found it worked effectively with other emergency services when preparing for major incidents. The trust must now submit an action plan explaining how it will address the remaining concerns.

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