Annual public meeting

A big thanks has been given to everyone who visited and took part in the annual public meeting on Wednesday, at the Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) base in Great Notley, Essex.

A number of staff, volunteers, and stakeholders were at the event, led by Chair Sarah Boulton and Chief Executive Robert Morton.

Robert opened the meeting with an update on progress in areas of clinical improvement, staff health and wellbeing, demand, and performance. As well as praising the team behind the CAD implementation “during an extremely busy winter period” and the introduction of the new vision and values, he highlighted that Clinical Quality Matters was recently shortlisted for a national award, the value of the appointment of Health and Wellbeing manager Debra Winterson, signing the MIND Blue Light pledge, and the expanded chaplaincy service.

He said: “Since the birth of the Trust 10 years ago, workforce has increased only marginally despite the demand almost doubling in the same period. Staff retention is also on a slight increase, and we’re starting to appeal as an organisation people want to work for. We are introducing new roles within the Trust such as intermediate and advanced ambulance practitioners (IAPs and AAPs), and student and graduate paramedics,  and also creating clear pathways for people to move along.”

Director of Strategy and Sustainability Wayne Bartlett-Syree took the meeting through new NHS models which will allow for effective identification of patient acuity, and how the creation of sustainability and transformation plans around the country – with six in our region - will allow the service to become “a system player rather than an individual”.

Progressing patient care and the clinical strategy was the focus of a presentation by Consultant Paramedic Marcus Bailey, who also highlighted the £5m spend on defibrillators to ensure that patient safety and quality of care is at the forefront. Fire service collaboration, which involves fire officers around the region attending patients in cardiac arrest, was also on the agenda led by Community Collaboration Manager Wendy Risdale-Barr and Mark Wilby from Essex Fire and Rescue Service, who said his colleagues were "excited" to be part of the project.  

Dr Tom Davis Deputy Medical Director and EOC Clinical Lead Sandra Treacher presented on the immense amount of work preparing for our version of a clinical hub which is the opportunity, Tom said, to “get the right treatment and resources to each patient”. The virtual centre involving a range of professional roles will aim to deliver a better patient experience in the future. Sandra added: “We want to be in a position where ambulances are waiting for emergency calls rather than emergency calls waiting for ambulances.”

The meeting ended with Organisational Development Manager Jill Page reflecting on the leadership training and development achievements of 2015-16, where we’ve “moved from a chain of command leadership organisation to a transformational leadership whereby there is an understanding of accountability; the vision is about earning and developing trust and respect and that leaders enable staff to become the best they can be”. She reiterated to the meeting that a well-lead organisation that develops trust between the staff and leaders/managers will in turn be reflected in a higher level of patient care. Thanking Terry Hicks and Matt Broad for their push to get leadership work on the table, she also thanked the cohorts of managers in the leadership development programme for their work.

Sarah closed the meeting, which was also held on the same day as the regular Board meeting in public, by thanking the participants and that the Board would be “looking forward to seeing the exciting developments presented being progressed”.

To get a full picture of the annual meeting, you can access the presentations used at the Board meeting here, as well as the Quality Account. The next Board meeting in public will be held in September, and details will be shared online.

Published 29th July, 2016