Compliments for ambulance crews in Northamptonshire outweigh complaints by 20 to 1, according to trust

Between April and June 2015, EMAS received 268 compliments compared to 13 complaints. This equates to a ratio of 20 compliments for every complaint, something never before seen at the trust, according to a spokesman. In the second quarter of the year (July, August and September), the number of compliments rose again to 302 compared to 34 complaints.

Clare Wade, patient safety and experience manager, said: “To receive so many compliments is a real credit to the hard work of crews who are at the frontline of patient care. However, we do take every complaint very seriously and aim to learn everything we can in order to improve our services.

“When people feel that they’ve received excellent care that has gone above and beyond what they expected, they write in to say thank you and we really appreciate this. People are often most appreciative of our staff being courteous, supportive and showing empathy.”

Compliments were for all of the EMAS services; 999 emergency calls, patient transport and call handlers. Words frequently used to praise staff included professional, excellent, caring, kind, grateful and kind, the spokesman added.

Patients and members of the public are actively encouraged to give feedback about the care they received from the ambulance service. They can do that via the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) – email: [email protected] or call at local rate on 0333 012 4216.

Dominic Ford, a team leader for an EMAS ambulance crew, said: “It’s great that we receive the thank you letters and compliments from the patients that we treat. It’s a credit to all the hard working frontline staff.

“The thank you letters and compliments make the crews feel appreciated by the many patients that we treat, and sometimes in difficult circumstances.”