The standards expected of ambulance staff in the quality of care they give patients has been set out in a new report.

The East of England Ambulance Trust NHS Trust (EEAST) Quality Account for 2014/15 has been published with the clinical priorities for the coming year, as well as reflecting on the past 12 months.

In 2015/16, the Trust is focusing on the same seven key areas to raise standards in quality as it did in 2014/15, including stroke and heart attack care, timely response to patients, sepsis care, friends and family test, frequent callers, and cardiac arrest care.

Chief Executive Anthony Marsh said: “We want the same thing as patients do – for them to be cared for compassionately, receive care that gives them the best possible outcomes, and for it to be delivered in a timely manner and safely.

“Our key areas last year included stroke and heart attack care, timely response to patients, sepsis care, friends and family test, frequent callers, and cardiac arrest care and I’m happy to say that we have seen improvement across a wide range of these priorities which have had a positive impact on both patients and staff.

“These include the recognition of patients who have the early signs of SEPSIS, and consistently making improvements on conveying patients to a specialised stroke unit within 60 minutes.

"We have also made strides in our drive to recruit and train more paramedics and put more ambulances on the road, with additional emergency ambulances delivered and in use; recruited more than 400 student paramedics and have successfully a number of emergency care assistants on their six-week conversion course to emergency medical technician.

"I thank all staff for their dedication and professionalism in making what we wanted to achieve a reality.”

Sandy Brown, Director of Nursing and Clinical Quality, added: “The Quality Account gives us the ‘yard sticks’ we need to ensure we’re providing the best for our patients, but it also allows those outside of the Trust to measure our successes.

"The work that goes into this report is year-round to help maintain the focus on clinical quality, and we can’t underestimate the challenges that lie within it which staff have at the core of their work.

"I’d like to thank the teams for putting so much effort into it, and am encouraged by the dedication to clinical excellence I see every day.”