Thursday 10 November: Executive message from Kevin Smith, Director of Finance

When operational pressure is high, which it so often is at the present time, it’s easy to lose track of the important work being carried out to improve the Trust. This week we kicked off our Fit for the Future fortnight which is all about sharing with you the many ways in which we are developing EEAST into a better place for us all to work and for our patients to receive their care.

Our Fit for the Future improvement programme began in September 2021 and brings together all the work that we are doing to improve EEAST for our people and communities and to address the long-standing issues identified by our regulators. The work it’s delivering will impact us all, and it’s important that you understand what we’re doing and why.

The programme focusses on five main workstreams - Culture, People, Partnerships, Impact and Delivery. All of these contribute in different ways to making the Trust a better place to work and receive care.

Change can often take time and that in turn can be very frustrating. We’d all like to see instant improvements and quick solutions to some of our problems, but I want to reassure you that we are already making steady progress on some longstanding issues that have impacted our people and our patients.

The infographic below shows just how far we have come. Everyone now has access to appraisals and training; we’re tackling long standing employee relations cases and expanding our wellbeing programme; we’re working with our partners to tackle hospital delays and using our data to make better decisions. All of this, and more, means we are fulfilling the requirements of the CQC and EHRC, ensuring that EEAST is a safer place to work and receive care.

As we move forward, we will keep you updated on future progress. One of the most important ways of doing this will be through our culture dashboard which we will publish after each quarterly Pulse survey, along with your feedback on working for EEAST.

We’re really looking forward to working with you on this. Together we can make the trust a better place for all of us.

Kevin Smith 
Director of Finance

Published 10th November 2022