Update from Anthony Marsh - 16th April 2015

As most of you will know by now, the Norfolk Clinical Commissioning Groups have decided to award the Norfolk 111 contact to a different provider, meaning it will no longer be run by EEAST. This decision is hugely disappointing, given the excellent service our team has provided since we won the contract in 2012, often being the best performing, and our recent outstanding patient survey results. We are fully supporting affected staff during this difficult process and I have assured all those involved we will continue to do so until everything is finalised. The CCG has publicly said that staff will be given the opportunity to transfer to the new provider and that under transfer rules, their pay and conditions will be protected. We will also do everything we can to retain as many staff in our Trust as possible. I understand the decision has caused concern across the organisation for our colleagues and that being part of the EEAST family means a lot to many of you; it has truly saddened me that we are losing such a dedicated, patient-focussed arm of our organisation.

This Trust-wide commitment to patient standards has been proven with the publication of the latest national performance figures; EEAST was the best performing ambulance service in England for our response to Red 1 calls in February. We reached the most critical patients in eight minutes 77.7% of the time, compared to the national average of 72%. This is further evidence of how much we have improved over the last year, despite an increase in demand, which is thanks to the dedication and hard work of all of you, our staff and volunteers, so thank you. Please keep this going.

I would also like to highlight the excellent work of the Trust’s finance team who have worked extremely well to deliver the cost improvement plan agreed by the Board in July. They have led and supported the entire organisation to achieve the healthy financial situation we now find ourselves in, which is an outstanding achievement, considering the deficit we faced last year, and allows us to continue investing in frontline services and staff. Thank you to the team for all of their efforts in making this happen and well done.

Published 16th April 2015