Need to know
For #TeamEEAST Last updated: 18 May 2024 at 13:18
This week's We Are EEAST Briefing and Executive Q&A was led by Tom Abell, CEO and Melissa Dowdeswell, Interim COO and Director of Nursing, Quality and Safety.
| 04:16 - 05:51 | Hello Tom, Please can we ask how some departments can appoint people to roles without being advertised. There are now roles within the Fleet team that have clearly had people appointed into them without being advertised or using a clear or transparent process. |
| 05:51 - 07:04 | Hi Tom, I understand that the union has been asked to sign off the new A&E vehicles and there has not been any consultation with our own safety experts, Operational road staff or managers? |
| 07:05 - 10:07 | As PTS staff we have been told that the Dangerous Ford Ambulances are not able to be modified and that we are stuck with them despite Patients and Safe being injured. We've been told by our managers that they have asked for modifications and been told no way by fleet. Again, PTS are second class to A&E and no wonder we are losing staff and contracts. EMAS have just started on Lincolnshire they have a new PTS fleet, and they are spot on for the role. This is now the second time we have had new PTS vehicles that have been unfit for use. In 2021 we had 30 that sat in a field for months as they needed to be modified because there was no involvement of operational staff |
| 10:08 - 10:47 | There was a post on TRAC with a very short time frame for a role in the fleet team that had to be a registered clinician, hold a degree and be a blue light driver? Seems very strange for a fleet support role. It looks like it has been written for someone specifically... If that fair? |
| 10:50 - 11:32 | Hello Tom. We notice your windowsill plant is M.I.A. As others have commented, it looked quite sad. Can we have an update on its welfare please? (Appreciating the light hearted humour in the current climate!) |
| 11:34 - 13:41 | Hi Tom. I understand that a number of staff within AOC are being "upbanded" to 8A, without any advertisement etc. How is one department allowed to upband their friends when other departments cannot recruit at all. We are infuriated! |
| 13:43 - 13:48 | Hello please can I ask a question about the change planned to eoc uniform? Why are the Trust moving eoc staff into a new 'eoc' branded uniform? We don't want the change. We don't want to look different to EOC clinicians or ops colleagues. No other ambulance services are doing this. Surely it's a waste of money and everyone's time. We just want to be able to access fleece/jackets etc like ops colleagues for those chilly nights not have different shirts/trousers etc with eoc branding. Raised with manager.. was told it's happening and nothing can do about it! Helpful! |
| 15:50 - 16:10 | Please can we have the NCD guidance as promised in the last two exec briefings, this is still not available. HI - I have checked and this has been shared twice now with Head of Operations and Sector Planning managers - please can you let me know which areas this has not been shared so we can assist in getting it to you. Thank you |
| 16:11 - 18:01 | Senior management had assured us that the merger of CCD and EOC would provide support with shift coverage and enhance desk resilience. However, it's evident that this hasn't materialized. Shifts continue to be dropped frequently, often leaving a single staff member to manage the regional desk without support. There have been several reports of unsafe work incidents, potential patient harm situations, and multiple staff members (Dispatchers and CCPs) experiencing severe stress as a result. It's concerning that our staff's well-being is being compromised despite the increased workload (not related to being moved into the main room.) Why hasn't there been a more serious effort to reverse the issues with this project? All of the staff have raised these concerns with their line managers, nothing has changed. My question is, are the senior team aware of these concerns and being told the actual situation on the ground, or are they being misinformed that everything is functioning smoothly? |
| 18:03 - 18:33 | Hi Tom, any update on the possibility of Penthrox being added to drugs list for DSAs? |
| 18:34 - 19:08 | Please can you explain why the recent Director for clinical operations was only advertised internally when other roles such us consultant paramedic were advertised externally? Isn’t this nepotism and shows you know already know who you want? |
| 19:08 - 19:27 | Hey Tom. Happy Friday (oh, it's Thursday!) What an F1 race that was in Italy, but F2 and F3 are getting more exciting aren't they. If you could attend any race in the world which would it be? |
| 19:28 - 20:45 | What are the plans for CFRs?. Currently we have gone quiet on upskilling. Seems that we have prioritise co responders and not so much CFRs. Some of us have been loyal for years but someone has come along and 5 minutes in, you’ve sent them on courses and upgraded them to ECAs. Its quite demoralising for us… Are there plans to support us? |
| 20:48 - 21:04 | Staff within the EOC are concerned that we have not had any news about our Head of EOC and their return to the role. Do you have an update? Going in to the winter we really need to have our substantive senior leadership team in place? |
| 21:05 - 23:44 | There an ever-growing "us and them" divide within the organisation? The other day an exec director told us that we are definitely coming out of special measures and the well led will be very much improved. What planet are they on? How is our trust well led when there is so much bullying, poor leadership and ever decreasing morale. As frontline staff we KNOW that we we will get a very poor CQC rating, why don't the exec and senior team believe this? |
| 23:45 - 24:22 | When are the performance management tools being given to the LOM teams? |
| 24:26 - 24:41 | As your new HWB Lead can I please offer support for both the windowsill plant and anyone else who may need it, contact our team wellbeing@eastamb.nhs.uk if you need support or want to join our wellbeing champions. |
| 24:45 - 26:03 | Any comment of the classification of nitrous oxide as a class C drug and its potential impact for clinicians using entonox plus its storage requirements? |
| 26:02 - 28:14 | As the theme of today's QA appears to be fleet related yet again we are seeing areas desperately short of vehicles, rumours abound about the suitability of new vehicles for both AE and PTS and the Trust being charged extortionate amounts to transport a DSA via low loader for a routine service at a somewhat dubious service centre. I know these a rumours, but are coming from reliable and experienced staff members. |
| 28:15 - 28:23 | In response to the 'upbanded AOC roles to 8A'. I don't recognise this so maybe you could give some more detail? Simon King. |
| 28:26 - 29:17 | Hey Tom, is there anymore clarity on if and when we can change our car salary sacrifice provider away from Tusker? Even if we could add an additional provider such as Octopus or NHS Fleet Services to offer some form of competition would be great as they are currently so expensive compared to others. |
| 29:18 - 29:45 | The short term fleet clinical role was as per policy open for staff within the redeployment pool for the 5 days required. The same application (2x posts) is open until the 14ths September for all staff to apply for. It is an operational role requiring staff to be operationally competent and therefore have a blue light qualification, the role however does not require the applicant to be registered. |
| 29:49 - 30:08 | Please can I ask if the Support Services Q&As still take place on the week where there is no Executive Q&A? I have not been invited to one for quite a few months now so I just wanted to check if they were still held please? |
| 30:36 - 30:52 | Hi Tom, Graham Clark here - The dates of the October ALF conference now coincides with the new Doctor/Consultant IA dates - do you know if the conference is still going ahead please? |
| 30:56 - 32:05 | Following on from EOC uniform question, why do some CFR's wear the same uniform as frontline staff. Whilst I appreciate their work , members of the public mistake them for front line paramedics and feel this misleads the patients. |
| 32:07 - 32:21 | Responding to the CCD/EOC dispatcher question. Yes, dispatcher capacity is currently being increased in support of all dispatching roles. There is no intention to put more pressure on CCD or other dispatchers but rather to increase dispatcher numbers. |
| 32:23 - 33:25 | When I look around I still don't see enough call handlers, or enough dispatchers. How come we have so many new senior eoc roles in place, but not enough people on the ground to actually answer the phone, and dispatch the ambulances. Topsy turvey innit |
| 33:30 - 34:00 | Sorry Tom, Graham here again. I raised a while back on a previous Q&A about a lack of response from the Standard Loading List email address. I contacted the person you recommended twice since and still no reply. It's disappointing as this will impact our 'responsiveness' to staff feedback if others are also affected. |
| 34:04 - 34:27 | Did you see the lovely GoodDOG Harper and Sammii Highstead on Anglia News yesterday. Harper was a superstar |
| 34:34 - 35:37 | Hello Tom, Helen From L&D here. As im sure you will know we have recently launched the most extensive CPD program the trust has seen in years. This has been built in line with staff requests, and feedback, together with working with Patient safety team and clinical leads and other representatives to make sure its relevant and engaging. sadly we are not seeing the uptake in places that we expected. please would it be possible for you to mention this program and ask that if staff have feedback on the program I am really keen to hear the feedback and could they please email LandD@eastamb.nhs.uk |
| 35:39 - 36:50 | In the last Q&A we asked a lot about TOC being moved to Norwich. We have heard nothing about this apart from it’s happening. We have a lot of communication pushing how good things are but we aren’t able to raise concerns as it will impact our careers. Additional answer: Relating to TOC, there was quite a bit of time spent on this on the earlier EOC Q&A. But for those who were unable to join there, or didn't realise it was happening, TOC is remaining at Chelmsford but we are also planning to advertise the current vacant posts to be filled at Norwich. This would help us provide opportunities at both sites. Only one TOC team at a time, but sometimes at Norwich rather than always Chelmsford. Hope that helps. Please ask Michelle or myself if you'd like to discuss more. |
| 36:51 - 37:52 | Hey Tom, is there any work going on to ensure crews are driving on blue lights to calls. Upon recent shifts and speaking to road staff they have decided they decide if it’s appropriate to drive on blue lights. LOMS are refusing to attend jobs at the moment (a number of them) if it’s not an arrest. They are arguing that they should only be going to level 0 calls. How do we manage this? We report crews to LOMS but often they’re their best friends and don’t do anything |
| 37:54 - 39:03 | I'm a Paramedic and was crewed with a blue light qualified HCRT colleague, EOC informed us that we would be unable to respond to all 999 calls due to current policy and the vehicle had to be down skilled to an Urgent vehicle. This seems ridiculous when HCRT have had better training than our NCD colleagues, could you explain the rationale please? |
| 39:08 - 40:05 | Today the recruitment team held a Meeting Basic Needs event. I have a longstanding recruitment issue which just couldn't get resolved. I joined the event today, raised my question and it was resolved within an hour. This is absolutely fantastic and a credit to the team, but I'm left wondering why it took so long. However, the recruitment team should be praised for their event and resolving so quickly. Thank you. |
| 40:07 - 40:21 | Can I please take the opportunity to let everyone know we have a new manager (SOCM) for Norwich joining us on 18th Sept. Sarah is really looking forward to it, brings a wealth of NHS leadership experience and will provide will provide us with some much-needed stability. |
| 40:22 - 40:37 | From Helen’s question, EOC staff are struggling to get mandatory compliance up to date with Appraisals cancelled due to staff shortages. So whilst we applaud extra learning being available it is not realistic to expect a high uptake. |
| 40:56 - 41:31 | can you let me know who is on the design team for new ambulances please? I have asked in our virtual crew room and nobody in suffolk has been consulted? 3hy is the project being lead by the same team who designed the FIATs |
| 41:35 - 41:59 | Please can I ask that we do not assign any external provider with words like 'dubious' If there atre issues to raise please specify to fleet leads. Public statements of this nature undermines the Trust and risks litigation as these parties are forced to defend there brand. We would not like it :) |
| 42:00 - 42:36 | Tom, I appreciate how much change has happened with the CFRs. There’s room for improvement but we are better respected now. For years we’ve had to pay for mileage and uniform etc and now to get them given to us is lovely so thank you. Hopefully the way some crews treat us can change and get better |
| 42:37 - 42:47 | When can we expect the new amulances to be delivered? |
| 42:50 - 43:09 | Norwich are getting a TOC team. Can we have one at Bedford please? |
| 43:10 - 43:28 | Can we have an update on the SLL for the response bags please? |
| 43:29 - 45:50 | I saw the recent Exec email ref winter pressures. Can we ask what meaningful actions are being taken at our acutes to reduce handover delays. We are seeing long delays already, I cannot see us being in any better position than we were last winter. |
| 45:53 - 46:00 | Just on the blue light driving to calls. As per the LAW it is the DRIVER responsibility to decide if lights are appropriate. The trust give us authority to do it, the driver holds the accountability to make sure it is appropriate. |
| 46:03 - 47:25 | With call volumes currently being high, why has the trust not declared an internal major incident due to a lack of fleet being available. In my locality staff have been asked to take short notice leave as there are no vehicles available for thier shift! This in turn puts more pressure on those on shift, this is not good for our health and well-being nor for service delivery which is scandalous. |
| 47:27 - 48:39 | The TOC already providing a regional service? Why do we need to move to another EOC. Every other ambulance service in the UK has one TOC or the like . Is this ground breaking practice or a risk? I don’t think it’s a good move but this is for the exec team to answer as the book will stop with them should we have a Manchester style incident with staff split across EOCs. |
| 48:41 - 48:48 | I just wanted to say that I work in the control room and on the ground we really feel and notice the difference with the change in leadership and the style. Hope it stays that way |
| 48:53 - 49:23 | In response to HCRT query, just to add to Melisa's response, the ESOP25 was reviewed and set out the parameters of attending, which it appears has been followed in the above circumstances. ESPO25 was reveiwed, as mentioned by Melisa, following concerns raised from some HCRT staff that did not wish to attend some higher acuity calls. Appreciate some HCRT staff would be willing to attend and understand there are escalations from Ops Managers to look at whether an alternative process can be applied for these staff, without impacting on those that wish to remain as is. |
| 49:25 - 49:50 | Further to Helen’s comment regarding L&D CPD, to start with I would like to thank the L&D team, I have enrolled in a few courses, sadly 2 have already been cancelled due to low enrolment and |
| 49:52 - 50:16 | Regarding the use of blue lights, can we justify the use of our exemptions, risking lives travelling to upgraded low category calls that have only been upgraded due to long delay? Is it justified? |
| 50:16 - 50:21 | Fair play and huge respect on becoming a CFR. That's great leadership. Kudos to you Tom. |
| 50:24 - 51:16 | Will TTL allow our senior managers to feel more empowered and autonomous in their decision making ? I see lots of people wanting to wear the captains hat but not willing to steer the ship …… |
| 51:21 - 51:42 | 2 new DSAs due to Ops in November, with others to follow in late 2023 and early 2024. The Fiats start being replaced late 2024. Happy to do a fleet update in the coming weeks |
| 51:45 - 52:15 | Do you think you receive EOC questions here because its anonymous? |
You can catch up on previous We Are EEAST Briefings on our Archive page. You can also catch up on Local Manager's Briefings here.
Published 12 September 2023