Modernising our planning and resourcing

Planning and resourcing is a key part of ensuring that we can deliver the best possible care for our patients, which is why a new project team has been set up to look at this process across the Trust and ensure it’s working effectively and efficiently.

The project team will be building on the positive steps we saw with the planned GRS upgrade. They will be reviewing how we plan and schedule where our people are and will be seeking ways to modernise and improve upon the work we already do in this area. It will incorporate several projects from centralising scheduling, developing our Workforce Management System and modernising rota design to integrating the agency and Private Ambulance Service (PAS). It will also link with our Time to Lead programme, developing a system of centralised scheduling to release managers, giving them capacity to support their staff.

The new programme will take place over a two-year period and will be led by Steve West, who has extensive experience in the ambulance service and has successfully implemented a similar programme elsewhere.  

Steve West, Resource and Planning Transformation Programme Director, said: ‘In an organisation like EEAST we need to get our planning and resourcing right, and we know that there is work to be done to improve the process, so it is easier and more effective for everyone involved.

During May, we’re visiting those areas of the Trust that will be impacted by the first phase of the project and holding discussion sessions to outline the plans and talk through what the changes will mean. I know that change can be an unknown, but I really hope that when we talk with our colleagues about the project it will reassure them about exactly what the future will look like and the positive outcomes that we’re hoping for when we take these steps.’

Published 9th May 2023