Update from Anthony Marsh - 15th January 2015

On Friday many of you from Norfolk and further afield came together to mark the passing of our friend and paramedic Richard Denman. It was a very dignified and poignant day and I would like to thank everyone who attended, as well as the staff who volunteered to cover shifts so that Richard’s colleagues could attend. Despite the breadth and length of our organisation, we really reached out and supported each other and this makes me very proud. The bonds in our organisation are very unique and powerful and this strength was certainly on display on Friday. Thank you.

For the second month in a row our control rooms have been the best performing in the country for answering 999 calls with the fewest delays of more than two minutes, which is an excellent achievement. We only had three calls that were not answered within two minutes in December, whereas some other trusts had hundreds of calls not answered within this time in the same month. I know all of you in EOC have been working really hard under very demanding conditions and so to achieve this in our busiest time is outstanding. Well done to you all, it is extremely pleasing to see EEAST leading the way and is a very much improved position from this time last year.

We had to make essential updates to the CAD system last week to address some issues, which went very well due to the dedication of our staff. The updates have meant the system is now running more effectively; however we have been looking at the long-term plan for CAD and will be going to tender for a system very soon. I will keep you updated on the progress of this.

As the external pressure and media focus remains on the NHS, and particularly ambulance services, we know that we are on the right track to improve our organisation. We have already made excellent improvements to our patient care and will continue to do this in 2015. Thank you for all of your efforts and be assured that EEAST is taking huge strides forward.

Published 15th January 2015