Need to know
For #TeamEEAST Last updated: 18 May 2024 at 13:36
I’m sure we’re all well aware of the financial constraints that the NHS faces, and here at EEAST we are no exception. This is why commercial services is such a critical part of our team, and I’m really pleased that they’ve had the opportunity to share more about what they do and the important role they play over the past few days during our first ever Commercial Week.
The team, which is rapidly growing, brings in a valuable income stream which we can plough directly back into vital frontline services, and going forward this funding will be used to drive innovation projects on the frontline.
As the biggest team within commercial, CallEEAST are also the most well known, as our contact centre. The team manages eligibility and booking services for all our PTS contracts, but they also provide a range of commercial contracts for external clients which range from handling GP surgeries calls, to managing support calls for Iceland food stores across the UK. It’s an eclectic mix, but the team handle their clients brilliantly and have received some glowing feedback. It was also great to hear from Grace, who started her career as part of the CallEEAST team and is now one of our very own EEAST EMT’s.
But the commercial team, is wider than just CallEEAST and this week has been the ideal opportunity to showcase the work that our National Performance Advisory (NPAG) team do. The team are a national group, based here at EEAST, who facilitate conferences, workshops and best practice groups for NHS colleagues around the country. They generate income for us through membership fees when colleagues sign up to NPAG and sponsorship at events. As Trust members, we are lucky to have such a resource based here at EEAST, and we are all welcome to take advantage of the development opportunities that NPAG offers. You can contact the team info@npag.eastamb.nhs.uk to find out more details.
Lastly, but by no means least, our TrainEEAST team who coordinate and deliver emergency pre-hospital care training to a huge range of clients including leisure industry giants, Centerparcs, airports and the police. The team is now focusing on larger contracts and is expanding in order to manage these changes but will continue to provide first aid and mental health first aid training to us here in the Trust.
On a daily basis many of you will not be involved with commercial services, and may have wondered what their role is within an organisation such as ours, but I hope that this week has provided a better understanding of what they do and why they are a vital part of our future development here at EEAST.
Board meeting update
Yesterday we shared a summary of last week’s Board meeting on Need to Know. We will be doing this after every public Board meeting in future, so all of our people, whether you’re a staff member or a volunteer, have access to the issues that are being discussed at Board level and can see at a glance what our current priorities are.
At the latest meeting our new Chair, Mrunal Sisodia OBE, set out his priorities for the Board for the coming year, which included keeping a focus on improving our C2 response times, and improving our staff and public engagement. We talked through Trust performance and heard a really positive patient story presented by Kerrie Wykes, paramedic and midwife, about a mother who called 999 for a difficult breech birth, you can see the presentation in full at the bottom of the Need to Know article. If you haven’t done so, then please have a read through the summary as it does give a good overview of how we’re progressing as an organisation.
Getting CQC ready
A quick reminder about the new electronic guide that has been created to help each of us prepare for our imminent CQC inspection. Outlining what’s involved and what the inspectors are looking for it’s definitely worth a read and please remind teams and colleagues about it as well.
The Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOE) webinar series is also still available on Need to Know and you can access them at any point. Hopefully the webinars and guide will answer any questions that you may have, but you are also able to raise any questions with your line manager, or via CQC.Group@eastamb.nhs.uk.
Keep sharing your views
Don’t forget to complete the latest National Quarterly Pulse Survey, which you can do here. We’ve got just under a fortnight to go and your responses are key to us getting the most we can out of the results. Please take a couple of minutes and let us know how things are going in your area of work, it really does matter.
Thank You Thursday
This week’s Thank You is for a colleague at Waveney Ambulance Station.
‘I just wanted to say how amazing she was and that my son wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for her instructions to me over the phone. The chest compressions dislodged the object enough for my son to breathe and colour to return to his lips before the emergency crew arrived. She saved my son’s life and myself and my family will be forever grateful to her for that.’
Thank you,
Kevin Smith
Director of Finance
Published 20th July 2023