East of England Ambulance Service delivers some of the best emergency care outcomes in England

EEAST's 2025/26 Annual Quality Account shows the Trust is one of the best-performing ambulance services in England for time-critical conditions such as heart attacks and cardiac arrest, even during a year of record demand.

During 2025/26, EEAST was the highest-performing ambulance trust in England for heart attack care, delivering the nationally recognised treatment bundle to almost all eligible patients, significantly above the national average.

Survival outcomes following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest were also among the best in the country, with EEAST achieving the highest performance nationally for several key measures, including return of spontaneous circulation and delivery of post-resuscitation care.

These outcomes reflect rapid recognition of life-threatening conditions, highly trained clinicians and strong clinical governance.

The Trust handled nearly 1.5 million emergency contacts in 2025/26 – the equivalent of one 999 call every 29 seconds.

Despite this sustained pressure:

• 999 calls were answered in an average of two seconds
• Ambulance response times improved across all call categories compared with the previous year
• Performance for the most life-threatening emergencies remained stable and resilient

Not every 999 call requires an ambulance response. In 2025/26, EEAST clinicians safely supported over 159,000 patients through telephone assessment and clinical advice, ensuring care was delivered quickly and appropriately while protecting ambulance availability for the sickest patients.

This approach helps patients avoid unnecessary hospital visits and ensures emergency resources are available where they are needed most.

Patient experience remained a clear strength:

• 93% of patients rated their overall experience as good or very good
• The Trust received 3,722 compliments, with six compliments recorded for every complaint
• Formal complaints fell significantly compared with the previous year

Patients most frequently praised staff for their compassion, professionalism and reassurance during some of the most difficult moments of their lives.

The Trust continued to strengthen patient safety:

• Serious patient safety events reduced by almost 50%
• More than 1,000 Learning from Deaths reviews were completed, exceeding national requirements
• Improved training and learning systems ensured lessons were shared across the organisation

Simon Chase, Chief Paramedic and Director of Quality of EEAST, said: "Our teams respond to extraordinary demand every day, and this quality account shows the real difference their skill, compassion and commitment makes for patients.

"We know there is more work to do, but we are proud to be delivering some of the best outcomes in the country for the patients who need us most."

The 2025/26 Quality Account is available to read on our website here.

Photo caption: EEAST's out-of-hospital cardiac arrest desk, which links clinicians in the control room to the scene of a cardiac arrest via video link, is now being explored by other ambulance services in England.