THE region’s ambulance service has been ordered to improve after being criticised in a report.

The North West Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (NWAS) has been rated as ‘requires improvement’ after being inspected by the Care Quality Commission.

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The watchdog visited the trust’s emergency operations centre, urgent and emergency care and patient transport services, as well as looking at the 111 service.

Following an unannounced inspection in June, the trust was criticised for its safety, management, complaints policy and ensuring staff are given adequate opportunities to report incidents and safeguarding issues.

However, in the report published today it was given a ‘good’ rating for being effective, caring and responsive and ‘outstanding’ for information sharing.

Professor Sir Mike Richards, the chief inspector of hospitals, said inspectors were concerned surrounding staff training and whether the service had enough staff to meet the needs of patients.

He said: “There were also concerns surrounding how safeguarding issues and incidents were reported and the communication around complaints to the service.

“The trust is working against a backdrop of increased pressure on all of its services.

“While I am anxious to see the trust continue to monitor and improve staffing levels and share lessons learned from incidents and complaints, I’m confident that the areas of good practice can be maintained and further improvements made.”

Derek Cartwright, NWAS chief executive, said “We accept the comments in the report relating to improvements required for procedures, guidelines and training.

“The inspection took place almost 10 months ago and the majority of the points highlighted have already been addressed.

“I was extremely pleased to hear that the CQC believes our staff to be caring and compassionate and that we regard safety and quality as a priority.

“Our staff work hard every day to do the very best they can for patients.”