Need to know
For #TeamEEAST Last updated: 07 May 2024 at 16:08
This week, at our public Board meeting, we heard some very moving patient stories where the care that people received was impacted by the huge demand right across the NHS.
I am always mindful of the impact that this has not only on those people’s families but on our crews and clinicians who are striving to give the best care in very challenging circumstances. Please look after yourselves and access the health and wellbeing support that is available.
Remembering our people
Today, Thursday 11th November, we will mark Remembrance Day with a two-minute silence at 11am. Our relationship with the armed services has always been a close one and many colleagues will be involved in parades and other activities across our region as we remember men and women who have lost their lives in active service.
It also an opportunity to pause and remember colleagues we have lost during the pandemic, and we will take some time at the forthcoming ‘Stars of EEAST’ annual staff awards ceremony to pay tribute to them.
Celebrating our people
This year’s staff awards ceremony will be an online event, taking place at 6pm on Thursday 25th November. All staff are invited, and we hope as many of you as possible will be able to join us. As well as the usual award categories, this year we also have our first ever ‘People’s Choice’ award which is your chance to vote for your favourite of the shortlisted nominees.
This week also sees the launch of ‘We are EEAST’. We know that our staff are the heart of our organisation, and now we’d like you to be the face of it too. We want your help to ensure that, as an organisation, we are wholly representative of the community we serve.
Being representative is crucial to ensuring that we continue to evolve and drive forward positive change within the Trust. There is brilliant work being carried out by brilliant people across the Trust every day and we would like to gather case studies from members of staff Trust-wide, from a variety of roles and backgrounds and share those individual experiences with colleagues across the organisation. ‘Faces of EEAST’ launches this week and you can find more information about it on Need to Know.
Listening to our people
As we’ve mentioned before, the National NHS Staff Survey is currently live. Your feedback will ensure that we continue to direct resources to areas where they are most needed, so please do take five minutes to complete it.
We are making real progress in some key areas – we’ve now closed 40% of our employee relations cases, we’ve seen a staggering 900% increase in the number of people contacting the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian, which means the service is working, and we’ve invested an additional £170,000 in staff wellbeing.
40% of you have already responded, we’re aiming for 60% return rate and some teams have already reached that goal, so please do respond.
Thank you for all you continue to do. We are continuing to experience huge
Bob Champion
Interim Director of Workforce
11th November 2021