AN ambulance service which helps the people of Essex has become the first in the country to secure international recognition for the way in which it uses and maintains medical devices.

The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust has been awarded Global ISO 13485:2016 accreditation for medical devices including defibrillators, ventilators, patient monitoring and oxygen equipment.

The certification included an audit of the quality and documentation systems for the whole lifecycle of the trust’s medical devices - from purchase, deployment and servicing to disposal. 

Katie Birkenhead, head of medical devices, said:  “This certification is a fantastic achievement for the team, they have all worked incredibly hard and it is a credit to their commitment.   

“ISO accreditation has been an ambition of mine for many years, and I'm proud that we’ve successfully delivered our goal.”  

EEAST covers a population of about 6.2 million people covering the counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex.

It is one of ten ambulances services trust in England and was recently pulled out of what was then called special measures this January.