South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) was last formally inspected by the CQC in 2022, the final rating of that inspection in July 2022 being ‘Requires Improvement’ (Full report above).
Over the past year the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has subsequently carried out two further unannounced assessments within the service. Firstly, the Urgent & Emergency Care services (Field Operations) were inspected in September 2025, and we await the final report. In December 2025, the Emergency Operations Centre (999 service) was assessed through an unannounced inspection, again we await reports from that assessment.
Since the inspection in 2022, SECAmb has delivered a far‑reaching improvement journey focused on strengthening governance, leadership, improving patient safety, and creating a more open, supportive culture for staff.
The Trust has set out its strategy, developing governance pillars to support these, refreshed enabling strategies, policies and procedures to transform its people and patient‑safety processes. It has invested heavily in staff voice, engagement and development, establishing divisional structures and clinical operating models to bring this and the strategy to life.
These changes have led to meaningful progress across performance, safety and experience, marking a significant step forward in the quality of care we provide to our communities.
The CQC monitors, inspects, and regulates health and social care services to ensure that the services being provided are: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led.
Our rating is determined by the standards of our clinical practice and patient care, the processes around our decision-making, our core business systems, how well our policies and procedures are put into practice and how we address areas of concern. This information is gathered by the CQC inspection team through staff focus groups, senior manager interviews, stations visits, hospital visits, and feedback from staff and patients.
For more information about CQC, the Chief Nursing Officer in SECAmb is the nominated CQC lead and therefore the first point of contact with any CQC enquiries.
For CQC general enquiries, please visit their website via this link: Care Quality Commission
Should you wish to contact the CQC direct you can do so by:
Using their online contact form.
Emailing enquiries@cqc.org.uk
Calling 03000 616161 – phone lines are open Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5.30pm, excluding bank holiday.