Need to know
For #TeamEEAST Last updated: 06 May 2024 at 12:41
This week's We Are EEAST Briefing and Executive Q&A was led by Marcus Bailey, Chief Operating Officer.
Q1 - Hi, I was wondering about this year’s Queens Platinum Jubilee medal. I want to know if, when and how they are being issued please? I understand you have to be in service over 5 years. Thanks in advance.
Q2 - Fire staff have informed me that during the ongoing refurbishment of Bishops Stortford a sub-contractor was caught stealing a fork and shovel being used to dig their new pond. What steps are EEAST taking to ensure that we only employ reputable contractors to safeguard out staff and property?
Q3 - I’m given to understand that EEAST call handlers have been given an incentive payment for their work during lockdown, approx. £200 per month to a total of £1200. Apparently this is both a thank you from the Trust and as an aid to staff retention. As far as I know, call handler staff are the only ones receiving this incentive (it’s worth noting that they can also work incentivised overtime).
Whilst I have the highest respect for all colleagues across EEAST, I find it frankly staggering that frontline staff have not been included in this scheme, given that staff morale is at an all-time low and the Trust is haemorrhaging operational staff at an alarming rate. My station alone has seen a high number of experienced clinicians leave recently many to them citing disillusionment and a feeling that ‘the Trust don’t care about them’ as reasons. Please outline your plan and timescale to resolve this.
Q4 - Hi Marcus, any news about when Dr Tom Davis will be returning?
Q5 - What is going to be done about the poor support for staff? From personal experience, I've attended a traumatic job, been promised to hear from management and heard nothing and told from my TRiM they'll call me after 28 days to check in. How can you call that a supportive environment for staff?
Q6 - Marcus, we are seeing more staff booking duty sick towards the end of a shift due to being out of area and late finishing. Please can we look at dispatch guidelines and cross AOC border working. It is not efficient nor safe for crews to travel up to 300 miles on a shift and only see two patients! Please could a working group be set up? I don't think it is simply a capacity vs demand issue - the way resources are dispatched is a big issue.
Q7 - Staff are very appreciative of the textbooks provided by the organisation recently. Would money have been better spent for the latest JRCALC pocketbooks... could you agree that these can be purchased for each locality? Using a digital platform does not suit all staff when they need to quickly access something with a patient.
Q8 - We are seeing huge delays with getting vehicles returned from workshops, impacting on service delivery. Has anyone considered that one of our contractors UKTP have about 100 vehicles in their yard (front line and PTS) and whether they actually have the capability to repair and return vehicles in a satisfactory timescale? Is this a risk the Trust have noted?
Additional information - Today there are 14 A&E vehicles in UKTP, we are unable to clarify the PTS vehicles at this time. The contract is managed through daily, weekly and quarterly reviews.
Q9 - The local Q and A doesn’t seem to be taking place every other week as I understood it would. Is there a reason for this?
Additional information - Local manager briefings are held on alternating weeks with the all staff briefings. The different staff groups are split across the two local manager briefing weeks each month, so that each area will have one local briefing per month. For more information please see our local manager's briefing page.
Q10 - Is there a way to track rolling hours please? Currently this is not visible on our GRS and staff are accruing a large amount of owed hours without realising. This ongoing debt of hours and allocation of extra shifts seems to have become a problem since BBR and there’s discrepancy/confusion around where many of them come from. Many thanks.
Q11 - Given the response to the retention payment for call handlers, is it right that there is no current plan to give the same to other employees such as road staff? No one has given a confirmed yes or no answer when this has been asked previously.
Q12 - There appears to be an extreme disparity across the Trust when it comes to the Developing LOMs. Is there a plan to standardise this process as it doesn't appear fair for some people to be afforded an opportunity to learn and develop, others to have some opportunities, but not as much as others, and other areas not even offering the opportunity at all? This is an ideal opportunity to develop our people and provide progression for people who want to.
Q13 - How comes the Trust doesn't put bank staff on blue light driving courses? Especially considering I've got a full-time NQP position applied for once I qualify.
Q14 – Thank you for the chance for non reg clinicians to upgrade etc, but is there other opportunities that will be available other than a para route in the Trust?
Q15 - Hello Marcus, is there any news of extension on the extension of the Business and Project Support Manager secondment as they are invaluable to us as a leadership team.
Q16 - If the organisation takes the decision to offer an incentive in a certain area of the business that needs it, why do frontline staff feel entitled that they should be included in every incentive going. I am astounded that exec colleagues feel they have to justify themselves for the decisions they make. Isn't it purely a business decision based on the business needs of the Trust and that is all that needs to be said?
Q17 - Has covid finished??
You can catch up on previous We Are EEAST Briefings on our Archive page. You can also catch up on Local Manager's Briefings here.
Published 2nd May 2022