Need to know
For #TeamEEAST Last updated: 18 April 2024 at 13:10
Over the last week I have met a number of our important stakeholders including our commissioners and NHS Trust Development Authority colleagues. Our discussions have been around the challenges we face, our recovery action plan and the longer term strategy we are developing.
One of our greatest challenges at the moment is the capacity we have to deal with 999 demand. This, linked with the national shortage of qualified paramedics, is why we will need to continue to recruit patient facing staff in substantial numbers over the next 18 months and beyond. One area of our strategy is about how we develop career pathways throughout the patient facing areas, so that wherever you join there are opportunities to develop your skill and your career.
Over the last few weeks I have hosted engagement events with staff and managers and I have set out why we need to develop a long term strategy and the need to change how we deliver care to patients. We know that if we keep doing the same things we will continue to get the same results, so changing our models of care and treating more patients within the community are absolutely critical to our success.
This is reinforced by the fact that over the last 5 years we have seen a 14% increase in activity and yet a 10% decline in the amount of income we get per incident. Clearly at a time when public finances are stretched and under pressure we need to use the NHS resources we have as effectively as possible and we can only deliver better care to patients in the longer term by working more collaboratively with our health and social care partners. This is why we need to use the skills of our patient facing staff in a better way, treating more patients closer to home wherever possible.
With less than one week to go before the new CLERIC CAD goes live in Bedford EOC, I want to take this opportunity to thank staff and managers for their dedication and support in making this vital project happen – it has been a massive amount of work and I know how much effort is being put in by many people across the Trust, especially our EOC and IT colleagues. CLERIC is due to go live in the early hours of the 18th November, so please bear with, and support, our EOC and IT colleagues during that night and in the following days.
Finally, since I joined I have been concerned about the backlog of employee cases that needed to be closed and the volume of feedback from staff telling me about things that have not been addressed. This is a clear indicator to me that we need to consider reviewing the culture within the Trust and is an issue which I know the Board are equally concerned about. I will be tabling a proposal at the next public Board meeting for the Board to consider commissioning a culture review.
In the meantime I do want to pay great credit to our joint Chairs of the Staff Partnership Forum (Barry Jarvis and Sandy Brown) whom have worked together to reduce the backlog of employee cases; an excellent example of good and proactive partnership working.
With best wishes,
Robert
Published 12th November, 2015