Need to know
For #TeamEEAST Last updated: 18 May 2024 at 09:10
As the weather improves and the nights get lighter it feels like summer is on its way and this means we can start to look forward to this year’s Stars of EEAST Awards Ceremony.
The event is taking place on the evening of Wednesday 5th July, at Barrington Hall in Cambridgeshire, which is a really beautiful venue. The celebration will combine the presentation of both our long service and special recognition awards.
Thanks to everyone who has nominated a colleague or team over the past few weeks. We’ve now closed the process and have received a staggering 249 nominations. This amazing response really showcases how important our colleagues are to us and leaves our judging panels with some very difficult decision making.
The panels begin this week and will run during May at which point we’ll contact those of you who are shortlisted for an award inviting you to the event. Invitations to the event will also be sent directly to colleagues who are eligible for a long service award. It promises to be another great evening and I look forward to seeing many of you there, for those who are not attending, the event will be live streamed and we will share details of how you can access that nearer the time.
The King’s Coronation and Big Help Out
As we head towards another Bank Holiday weekend, and the King’s Coronation, there is a real feeling of celebration in the air. However, for many of our team it will be an ordinary workday and potentially a busy period. I’m really grateful to all of you who are on shift over the weekend, hopefully you will also get some time with friends and family over the next few days.
Monday is also the national Big Help Out, a celebration of volunteering and an opportunity to encourage more people to get into volunteering. I know many of our own EEAST volunteers will be representing the trust at community events over the weekend as well as giving up their own time to support our frontline teams in CFR roles. A huge thank you to you all, we couldn’t provide the service we do without you, you really do make a difference to our patients and our organisation.
Update on Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme (MARs)
Following the launch of MARs we received a number of applications which we are now reviewing and deciding upon. Those who are successful will be notified in the coming weeks. We did receive high levels of interest and will publish further anonymised details of the outcome in our Board papers in July.
MARs also raised a number of questions about whether we this was pre-emptive of a wider redundancy scheme. I can confirm this is not the case, there is no intention to offer a redundancy scheme within EEAST.
Future proofing our resourcing
Work is now underway to modernise how we plan and schedule our people, building on the positive steps we have already seen with the planned GRS upgrade.
The new programme will run over two years and will link with our Time to Lead programme to develop centralised scheduling to release managers and give them capacity to support their staff. It will be led by Steve West, Programme Director, who has extensive experience in the ambulance service and has successfully implemented a similar programme elsewhere.
The new programme 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).
The programme team will host roadshows around the Trust during May to talk through their plans with colleagues who will be involved in the first phase and they will share further details about this in due course on Need to Know.
Keep Speaking Up
We want every member of staff to be aware of how to speak up and want to support every manager in dealing appropriately with any concerns raised to them. Recently, we spoke about the National Guardians Office review on speaking up within ambulance services which was published in late February, and our own ambition to make speaking up standard practice within EEAST.
As part of this work, I’m pleased to say that we have now introduced three training courses for the Trust on this subject which will become mandatory in the coming weeks. They are Speak Up (for ALL paid and voluntary staff), Listen Up (for all staff with line/middle management responsibilities) and Follow Up (for all senior leaders, including board members, non-executive directors and deputy directors).
We are committed to creating an open and safe environment where staff feel able to speak up when they see something that causes them concern whilst at work.
Thank You Thursday
This week’s Thank You comes through Greatix and is for Francis Woodcock, Financial Services Manager.
Francis has been a huge support to me as a manager within EEAST, he is highly responsive and has supported me with staff pay queries as well as emergency payments. His responsiveness enables me to quickly respond to staff concerns, he is a huge asset to this organisation and his team! Thank you, Francis, for the outstanding support you provide, and on a personal level it is hugely appreciated.
If you would like to show your appreciation for a colleague who goes above and beyond, then you can do so here.
Thank you for all that you do.
Emma De Carteret
Director of Corporate Affairs and Performance
Published 4th May 2023