Fit for the Future Blog: June

Between December 2021 and January 2022, EEAST held its first survey of its partner, which was circulated to nearly 500 organisations we work with across the six counties of our operating region.

The purpose of the survey was to get  snapshot of how the Trust is seen by our key partners. It is increasingly important that we work closely with partners such as the broader NHS, the third sector, patient groups, councils and local and national politicians to deliver better outcomes for patients in the face of high levels of demand and to develop new patient pathways. The newly formed integrated care systems (which become legal entities on 1 July this year) will play a crucial role in planning and delivering joined up health and care services within our region.

We asked respondents to rate us against six statements covering essential areas of service provision, asking if they agreed that we:

• Provide good quality patient care
• Are a strong collaborator
• Are committed to improving its culture
• Are helping shape alternative care pathways in our region
• Are a strong regional presence with our partners and stakeholders
• Communicate with our partners in a helpful and timely manner

Nearly 20% of those who we contacted responded, and most people were positive about their relationship with EEAST. Across the region our partners agreed or strongly agreed with the statements in these percentages:

• Good quality patient care – 65%
• A strong collaborator – 55%
• Committed to improving its culture – 62% 
• Helping shape alternative care pathways – 49%
• A strong regional presence – 55%
• We communicate in a helpful and timely manner – 57%

We asked these questions at both a regional level and ICS level and asked respondents about which key EEAST departments they have most contact and interactions with.

Click here breakdown of responses by ICS EEAST Partn Survey A4 May22_Region.pdf (eastamb.nhs.uk)

We also provided an opportunity for further, more qualitative comments about how they perceived their relationship with EEAST. The region-wide summary of the results can be found on the EEAST website.

Partners also used this opportunity to praise specific areas of their relationship with EEAST, making comments such as:

Our partners also gave us feedback on areas where we can improve:

 

 

The responses have now been collated into a whole-region summary and also produced as six summaries by Integrated Care System (ICS) area. We will be using these summaries to feed back to our partners within those areas this month.

Gita Prasad, Deputy Director of Business and Partnerships said:

 

“This is EEAST’s first Partnership Survey and we committed to work in a more joined up way with our six ICSs, blue light partners and the voluntary sector.  It is very gratifying that despite the challenging conditions we have been facing in recent years, our partners give us over 55% approval in all but one of the key areas of partnership.
“Obviously this is also a strong indicator of the areas where we need to focus our collaborative working with NHS colleagues and partner agencies.”

 

“We intend to make this survey a regular event so that we can track our progress as we work towards providing more effectively and seamless service delivery for our patients and the wider communities we serve.”

Published 9th June 2022