11 deaths (including 3 assailants) and 48 persons injured Grenfell Tower fire: 14 June 2017 in Kensington, causing 72 deaths and over 70 injuries. Parsons Green bombing: 15 September 2017, A non-fatal bombing of a London Underground train resulting in 30 injured persons. Contracting services Due to an increase in demand, the LAS has used private ambulance companies, and some charities, to provide additional everyday operational cover. This is largely to ensure set response targets are met and so that the level of resources available to the service stays at a safe level. The future of private ambulances within the LAS is unclear. In March 2014, operational difficulties were reported at Hillingdon Hospital because the private ambulances did not appear on the A&E hospital alert system. , LAS contracts out to two private company, EMFS Group and Polaris Medical who both provide Bariatric services as well as a small number of ambulances. LAS also deploys St John Ambulance mutual aid crews to a limited range of low acuity calls. In November 2021 the trust announced that it would be directly employing the 500 staff in "make ready" teams who are responsible for cleaning and restocking ambulances before they are taken out. They have been employed by Mitie for some years. CQC performance rating In its last inspection of the service in September 2019, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) gave the following ratings on a scale of outstanding (the service is performing exceptionally well), good (the service is performing well and meeting our expectations), requires improvement (the service isn't performing as well as it should) and inadequate (the service is performing badly): Difficulties and criticisms In 2000, the LAS faced funding difficulties and an increase in the volume of 999 calls, and it was criticised for poor performance in its response times. The service was sued for negligence in the case of Kent v Griffiths. The chief executive at the time, Michael Honey, left his post after talks with other members of LAS management. In 2010, the service lost its funding for the emergency care practitioner (ECP) role and existing ECPs were told they must change to a different role within the service, or leave. A fire in the basement of its Waterloo base in October 2010 caused the LAS to relocate the EOC to the back-up control room in east London due to an interruption to the building's power supply.