Need to know
For #TeamEEAST Last updated: 18 May 2024 at 09:55
This week, I am pleased to tell you that we are focussing on two important celebrations:
Pride 2023
June is Pride month, and we are hoping to be represented at as many of the dedicated events across the region as possible, but we need your help. Last year, the LGBT+ network attended as many events as they could manage, alongside the day job, but this year they’re looking for support from colleagues to help with EEAST stands and talk to members of the community and their families about roles in the Trust and the opportunities available to them.
The events are open to everyone and are all about celebrating inclusion within the community. We’ve shared a list of the events taking place within the region on NTK so please have a look and if you would like to go along and take part as an EEAST representative then you’ll find contact details for the LGBT+ network in the article.
You can also read ‘Pride – a party with a purpose?’ a blog from Dr Hein Scheffer, Exec Director on the Trust website.
Volunteers Week 2023
Providing an emergency response across a population of six million people is a huge challenge and one that would not be possible for us without our incredible team of volunteers.
Today marks the beginning of Volunteer’s Week (1st-7th June), which is an opportunity to highlight the vital contribution our volunteers make when it comes to caring for our patients and supporting out people. Across the region we currently have more than 1,200 volunteers, 977 of whom are community first responders (CFR), providing emergency care to patients in their local communities and supporting us on the frontline. Keeping our huge team of CFRs out on the road are an incredible support network of volunteer CFR dispatchers, team leaders and trainers.
As well as the community first response team we also have our patient transport service (PTS) volunteers, they are members of the local community who assist patients with getting to and from medical appointments and health facilities. Many of these patients wouldn’t be able to make it to these places without the service our PTS colleagues provide. PTS also includes hospital portering, which ensures that patients have support to navigate their way around hospitals and clinics.
Our community engagement team members, are volunteers who work as an independent group and serve as our critical friend, ensuring that everything we do is in the best interests of the community we serve. From audits to representing the organisation at local events, they help us gather feedback and build on this to continually improve our service.
EEAST Heart is another community-based service we can only offer thanks to the support of a team of volunteers who go into local schools and community groups to deliver basic life support skills and training.
Our co-response colleagues are volunteers who join us from other blue light services, or the armed forces. They provide resilience for us when we’re faced with those times of high demand or extreme pressure and have played a vital role in helping us meet these challenges during the past couple of years.
Finally, we have our chaplaincy. Our chaplains provide such an important function within the Trust offering support, advice and a listening ear when any of our people need it. We’re currently developing a new model for our chaplains to make the service more inclusive and ensure that we can offer the same level of support from our chaplains wherever you’re based in the region.
During April of this year our volunteers provided 21,270 hours of emergency cover across the EEAST footprint and with their support we’ve been able to roll out a successful falls pilot in Bedfordshire, delivered on the roll-out of more defibrillators and registered them on the national ‘Circuit’ and been involved in numerous community events where EEAST would not otherwise be able to be represented.
Hopefully, this has given you a sense of the significance of volunteering to us here at EEAST. Over the coming days we’ll continue to celebrate the work of our volunteers and will be sharing their stories across NTK and our social channels. We’re hosting an Instagram Live event on Monday 5th June, where our community response team will be talking about volunteering and the opportunities we offer as a Trust. We’ll also be hosting a dedicated Q&A session next week, led by Lorna Hayes our Community Partnership Lead, for our volunteers and details of that will be shared nearer the time. Please do take the time during the coming week to read more about the contribution our volunteers make, it really is invaluable.
Thank You Thursday
'The patient transport crew were very helpful and caring, explaining everything they were doing and were very understanding of my condition. They made it very smooth so it didn't hurt me too much'
Lastly, as we approach our ‘Stars of EEAST’ awards on 5th July, I would like to recognise Gino Anzivino, who has completed 43 years’ service with the Trust. He has worked all of his career out of Peterborough. Thank you Gino and enjoy your retirement!
Thanks to you all and take care.
Kevin
Published 1st June 2023