Image caption The formal inspection of the trust will start on 16 November

Officials are asking the public for their experiences of East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) ahead of an inspection.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is due to inspect the trust in November.

The inspection team are particularly interested in hearing from people who have used the service over the past year about the care received.

EMAS serves people in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire.

Prof Mike Richards, the CQC's chief inspector of hospitals, said: "The inspections are designed to provide people with a clear picture of the quality of the services at their regional ambulance trust, exposing poor or mediocre care as well as highlighting good and excellent care.

"We know there is too much variation in quality - these in-depth inspections will allow us to get a much more detailed picture of care in NHS services than ever before.

"[The feedback] will help us plan our inspection, and so help us focus on the things that really matter to people who depend on this service."

Earlier this year, the ambulance service, which responds to 616,000 emergency and urgent calls each year, announced it had failed to hit targets to reach the highest priority calls for a fifth year running.

However, bosses said things were improving and the latest figures "reflect the fact that we had that extraordinary winter in terms of demand".

A full report of the findings will be published by the Care Quality Commission later in the year.