Need to know
For #TeamEEAST Last updated: 02 May 2024 at 13:09
Welcome to another episode of the Fit for the Future podcast.
This month, we talk to Marika Sephenson, Executive Director of People Services, Cathy O'Driscoll, People Services Transformation Director, Deborah Gibbs, Local Compliance and Risk Officer, and Callum Brown, one of our EEAST Paramedics. In this episode we discuss Peoples Services and the focus groups that have recently taken place, before looking ahead at where the work stream will go next.
Episode Transcript
[Sean Bennett] Hello everybody and welcome to this month's fit for the future podcast. This month Julie and I are talking to Marika Stephenson, Executive Director of People Services, Cathy O'Driscoll, People Services Transformation Director, Debbie Gibbs, Local Compliance and Risk Officer, and Callum Brown, one of our paramedics here at EEAST.
This month we are talking about the people Services focus groups that have taken place and so to kick us off, Marika can you tell us something about the people Services strategy and the focus groups that you've set up? Why have focus groups?
[Marika Stephenson] I can, thank you. So we spent the first part of this year defining our people strategy and the key elements of that we felt are really important for our people within the trust. So looking at some of the NHS and people promise and pillars to really guide our vision for where we would like to look at our people initiatives over the coming years. So there is an NHS Vision which goes through straight to 2030, so our Focus has been to look at that and to look at what's appropriate for the East of England Ambulance Service and to build a really clear three-year plan on what our priorities are to step us towards that 2030 vision.
So, Cathy and myself had done some some work to identify those themes and the actions within the three-year plans. And really what we wanted to do was to ensure that what we were suggesting to the organisation as a way forward actually meets what people want and need and that it's actually gonna drive us forward from a people perspective in making East of England Ambulance Service a great place to work which is obviously our key driver and intention. So, the focus groups were to get that level of engagement, to get that feedback, to make sure we're on the right track and to really bring it to life, I would say. Maybe if I hand over to Kathy? Kathy can talk through some more specific details on the focus groups.
[Cathy O'Driscoll] Thanks, Marika, it's lovely to be here. So, the idea of the focus groups is that we've - you know - I've worked in several different organisations and we often see people's strategies that are developed without input from the people and I think that an awful lot of the time these are great but they're a tick box exercise. I knew from Marika that that was not what was wanted at EEAST, that we wanted something that was the voice of the people and that was going to be very outcome focused, so that we have a plan, we reflect people's views, they're involved in the design of the plan, we deliver on the plan, we're held accountable. And back to that outcome word, it's something that at the end of the journey, but even at different points through the journey, we can look back and go yes that was something that has happened as a direct result of the people strategy.
So, we set them up, they started in May and they've been running through June. As Marika said, we had we had quite a lot of groups. I was very very impressed by the amount of people who attended and especially the amount of people who attended in their own personal time, who came in and gave up that time. When I was on the groups, I was also so struck by the amount of thought that people have given to how they can make EEAST a place they want to work in, the place we all love to work in. So, I asked two members of the groups to join us on this call - we've got Callum and Debbie on the call and I think, as I said, this isn't my voice, this isn't Marika's voice, this is the voice of the people of EEAST. So, I'm going to ask both of them to join us now - So, Debbie do you want to kick off by letting us know, what made you attempt want to attend the focus group?
[Debbie Gibbs] Hi. Thanks, Kathy. I think the focus groups are just a really good way to raise any issues that staff feel that not being able to carry out their duties the best that they can, and offer the best care that they can. I mean it's a good way to discuss any barriers that they feel affects negatively, either lack of support or lack of training or opportunities for them to grow. And by being able to discuss them openly it gives a chance for the actual executive team to be able to see what the Trust needs to improve on. Sometimes I think there are so many different levels of management that the information isn't either escalated up or down that chain, which means sometimes those problems faced by staff are either misunderstood or not noted at all and I just feel that we've been given this chance and if we don't take the opportunity just to discuss and raise any issues then how will anything ever change? Management have said that they want to listen, so we need to speak up.
[Cathy O'Driscoll] Thanks Debbie. And it was great because, you know, Debbie and Callum, both of them here, have attended more than one theme, so that shows the level of enthusiasm that people had and how they wanted that opportunity to speak up. So, Callum, I was hoping you could share with us how you found the experience of the focus groups?
[Callum Brown] Hi. So, yeah, I was initially a little bit sceptical, but I was keen to be involved, to try and make our voices heard, because I thought we've had a lot of change groups but it was nice that this time someone's actually asking for feedback from staff and to listen, and I did feel like Cathy and the team were really listening to us when we went through the groups. There's a lot of different people there and a lot of different views but it was space to say what you thought honestly with no, sort of, judgement or prerequisites.
[Cathy O'Driscoll] Thank you. And I just wondered if either of you would maybe share with us what you would like to see as a result of the focus groups? I know you have been really passionate about this when we've been chatting, so Callum, would you like to start?
[Callum Brown] Yeah, I think I'd like to see staff welfare and staff being put at the forefront of the priorities. I think a big theme in the focus groups was that the priority has always been to hit numbers and make targets happen, but all the way along we're doing that at the expensive staff welfare and the expense of keeping and retaining our staff. So, as it becomes a worse and worse place to work because we're pushing and squeezing every last drop out of people, I think then, once you've squeezed everyone, people leave and there's nothing left for people to do and then you've got no staff left to do the job.
[Cathy O'Driscoll] Thanks Callum. And you know I think the great thing about the focus groups is that people felt able to share the challenges but they were also very positive in what they thought maybe the solutions were. We had a key question that I asked every single group which is - if you were a CEO for the day, so Tom's gone on holiday, what would you do? And people really came up with some great ideas, so I'm really excited that we're going to be able to share them with the exec later on. Debbie, what would you like to see as a result of the focus groups?
[Debbie Gibbs] For me personally, something I actually saw and I stole from East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation trusts is there philosophy on 'time matters'. And it just got me thinking a little bit more on how important time is. So, from a digital point of view and working differently, I'd like to see better IT systems in place with software packages that actually work with each other. There seems to be a lot of needless duplicated work, which is as a rule normally time sensitive and it puts a lot of extra stress on support staff. From an operational staff, time again is incredibly important, staff need to be able to have that time to be able to care for the patients and their families and we need to give them time that they deserve to enhance their Knowledge and Skills so that they can be the best that they can be and to offer the best care.
So, if the Trusts show that they continually invest - because they put a lot of money into their initial training - and if they can continually invest in them, with new learning experience but also actually give them the time to complete it. I think if you give staff that opportunity, they'll feel more valued and respected and reinvigorate their passion enthusiasm for the job. They've got to know that they're not just a number and they're actually a valued member of staff. So, I'd like to put the suggestion forward to trial that all operational staff get two hours per month and they can use that time to complete mandatory training or statutory training, and once that's done they can catch up on emails they can use that time for training, because staff shouldn't have to do that in their own time. It's not conducive to a good work-life balance and I do appreciate we have got targets and we need to meet patient facing hours, which is always an issue. But surely it's better to lose like a member of staff for two hours per month than it is losing them for 162 hours when they decide to leave because they don't feel valued. So those are the two things I'd like to see.
[Cathy O'Driscoll] Thanks Debbie, and thanks very much to both of you for all the time you had in the focus groups. And I think one thing that is key is that we had a lot of people across all the directorates, so we had support staff as well as operational staff, and even though their specific issues may have differed, a lot of their challenges remain the same around the work-life balance issue, around wanting to see Career Development, around Communications. And what became clear to me throughout the focus groups is we have a lot of great initiatives going on in the Trust, people aren't necessarily aware of them, so it's about how do we share all that information? And there was a constant theme of wanting to work as a team so that we know what's going on and then we can look at what we need to improve and work on. So, for me, it was it was incredibly enlightening to hear people's views during the course of the groups. Thanks, Sean.
[Sean Bennett] Well, that all sounds very positive. Just one quick question Cathy - was it only staff that were involved in these focus groups?
[Cathy O'Driscoll] Actually, no, Sean. We had representation from the volunteers as well, which was very interesting because we learned all that they contribute to EEAST, but we also learned about their training and the fact that they would like to have communication and input into our strategy going forward. So it was wonderful to see people who give up their own time to do so much for EEAST also participating in this.
[Sean Bennett] Thank you very much everyone, that all was very interesting indeed. At this point, I will just hand over to Julie to ask any final questions and lead you through our final reflections before we call it a day.
[Julie Hollings] Thank you, Sean. I was just gonna ask Cathy what for me is the ultimate question - what will people see that will be different as a result of this strategy?
[Cathy O'Driscoll] Thanks Julie. Well, I think the whole thing comes back to that outcomes. And what we're going to do now is, I have so much data, pull it together, put it into a format that the teams present it to the ECG at the end of July. And the reason for that is - this isn't my work, it's not Marika's work, this is the work of the people who've given up their time to attend our focus groups, so they're all going to be presenting it. Just as you, Julie, had the great suggestion of inviting some people onto this meeting, we want everybody who attended the focus groups to be able to have a voice because a lot of what came through in the themes - we want to be able to talk to our leaders, we want them to understand what we'd like to see as a change going forward, and we want to have that dialogue because maybe they can come back to us and say this is happening or this isn't happening, but it's not happening for this reason, so we can understand.
[Julie Hollings] Thank you Cathy. So it sounds like the next step is to go to the executive clinical group and for some of the focus group participants to present to them which I'm really looking forward to. Will people be able to continue to input into the strategy even after then?
[Cathy O'Driscoll] Yes, I'm going to set up an email just for the people strategy and people can share further ideas, because we've had a lot of ideas coming in. We hear a lot about individuals leaving EEAST to go to other companies but in actual fact the focus groups showed that a lot of people are looking at other companies to see what ideas can be brought into EEAST.
[Julie Hollings] Lovely, thank you. It's great to hear how engaged everybody is in this strategy and I'm really excited to see the final thing, if you like, the final strategy and the range of initiatives that will really support everybody who works and volunteers within the Trust. So thank you. Thank you to Kathy, Marika, most of all to Debbie and Callum, for joining us today and for sharing this with us. Thank you.
Published 27th July 2022