Need to know
For #TeamEEAST Last updated: 07 May 2024 at 12:41
Firstly, I wanted to reflect on the events of Sunday and the terrible incident at Liverpool Women’s Hospital. Following the attack, the UK National Threat Level is now at ‘severe’.
Please take care of yourself and your colleagues by being vigilant, making sure that our stations and vehicles are secure and reporting anything suspicious to the police.
Kathryn Thomson, the Chief Executive of Liverpool Women’s Hospital, paid tribute to her staff for their bravery and continued focus on their patients in the face of this terrorist attack. It is that kind of courage and commitment that we see right across the NHS, including here at EEAST, on a daily basis, and which will we be celebrating at our annual Stars of EEAST awards ceremony next week (25th November).
Responding to demand for our services
Thank you, once again, for all your efforts to meet the continuing high levels of demand that we are facing. It can be easy to forget that this is impacting the whole of NHS urgent and emergency care, with all ambulance trusts in England currently at REAP 4. On Monday, the impact of hospital delays was recognised in a report published by the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE). The article highlights evidence, from all 10 ambulance trusts of the harm that these delays cause to patients, and it is heartening to see this being raised at a national level by our representative body. You can read the report in full here.
An additional pressure last week, was the failure of our computer aided dispatch (CAD) and telephony systems. Thankfully, the national contingency plan was implemented immediately, with 999 calls transferred to neighbouring ambulance trusts. A huge thank you to everyone who helped get the system working again so quickly. We are now looking at the lessons learned, to prevent it happening again.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in protecting our patients and restoring services. In particular colleagues in AOC, Estates and IM and T.
‘One kind word’
It is currently ‘Anti-Bullying Week’ and this year’s theme is ‘One Kind Word’. We must all take the time to be to be kind to others and ‘One Kind really can make a difference to someone who is struggling. If you, or someone you know, requires wellbeing support, all staff can access our wellbeing leaflet find further resources on the East24 Wellbeing page.
As always, if you are being bullied or harassed, or witness any form of mistreatment, please Speak Up and Speak Out so we can Stop It. There are several ways you can talk to someone about your experience. Further details can be found here.
Stay safe this winter
Lastly, please make sure that you protect yourself, your family, colleagues and patients by having the COVID booster jab and annual flu jab. Flu clinics are being held across the Trust, you can find your nearest one here, and you can book your COVID-19 booster jab through the National Booking Service. We need to record every vaccination, whether this was done at EEAST or externally. For both Flu and/or the Covid booster, please complete the form here. It will only take a few minutes.
The impact of COVID-19 is still being felt. We must all continue to work within COVID guidelines, which continue to be updated as the situation evolves. This means that we have had to revise our guidance on Christmas parties, in order to protect you, our patients and the service we provide and we hope to find other ways that we can celebrate the festive season.
Thank you again for everything you are all doing and stay safe.
Marcus Bailey
Chief Operating Officer
18th November 2021