Update from Anthony Marsh - 9th October 2014

Chief Executive Dr Anthony Marsh

This week I have more good news to share with you; the first of our 120 new ambulances are now on the road, and more will continue to be delivered every week until the end of March – at which point we will reach my objective of not having any vehicles over five years old. This ticks off a huge goal in my improvement plan and I am very pleased that you will have fully-kitted ambulances and response cars that are fit for purpose and reliable. Well done to the operations support team for all of their work in making this happen.

It has also been fantastic to see your responses to the new roles of senior paramedic and senior EMT that were announced on Need to Know last week. So far we have had 385 applications for the senior paramedic role and 110 applications for the senior EMT role, which is an excellent start. I have had great feedback from staff and managers, so thank you for passing on your thoughts and appreciation.

We have been working very closely with UNISON this week to prepare for the planned industrial action next week. You can find all the information, including a useful Q&A on Need to Know, so I ask that everyone takes a minute to read this and understands what is going to happen on Monday and later on next week.

I fully understand your frustrations and concerns regarding the 1% inflationary payment but I personally urge you to please consider carefully whether or not you respond to 999 patients. I have taken steps to reduce activity during the four hours i.e. we will not be taking urgent cases and won’t be responding to many green cases and no standby. I have also written to the Secretary of State raising my concerns and supporting my staff. We are making progress at EEAST with substantial investment in training, recruitment, new vehicles and equipment. Please let me know if you think there is anything further that I can be doing and let’s continue to work together to improve our service for patients.

Finally I will be at BBC Radio Norfolk tomorrow (Friday 10th October) on their morning show from 9 – 10am, discussing all things EEAST. Tune in if you can.

Published 9th October 2014

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