Need to know
For #TeamEEAST Last updated: 06 May 2024 at 11:45
This week's We Are EEAST Briefing was led by our Chief Operating Officer, Marcus Bailey.
During the briefing, Marcus was joined by Rob Dimsdale, Interim Wellbeing Lead.
Question for Rob -
Wellbeing vans. Sentiment is absolutely welcomed. However, what is the stance on the Trust effectively becoming a food distributor? Food hygiene certs required? What if EEAST staff give someone an item they have an allergy to? How can items be securely stowed for safe transport? And... where are the staff coming from to drive it? Thanks.
Questions for Marcus -
Q1. Does a period of COVID-19 related absence render you ineligible for overtime incentive payments?
Q2. Tom Abell has said on numerous occasions that the way we pay incentives is not equitable/fair - yet again and again the same incentive scheme is rolled out. Can you advise why the concerns of staff are constantly being ignored? Staff on RRVs don't get the incentive, yet now we have to have a dedicated and 'C1 protected / Level 1' RRV in each STP - fair? I think not.
Q3. Where do LOMs sit in terms of response times? Last night our local LOM was sent out on several calls that do not apply to them being Level 0. That meant they were not available for manager issues. The LOMS are either Level 0 or they are not, which should it be?
Q4. I am parent with childcare responsibilities. I can often work some evenings on OT for 4-6 hours but not the full 8 hours so never get the incentive. Can the incentive not be applied to, for example 2 x 4 hours shifts on the day’s needs. So, I have worked a total of the 8 hours but over 2 shifts.
Q5. Will the newly proposed PCT program just make a hospital queue longer? When the patient is offloaded to EEAST Staff, it then returns with the next patient, but the first patient is still waiting to be accepted by the hospital. This isn't solving the problem.
Q6. As a manager I have booked OT shifts at weekends covering my job role (LOM) why am I not worth an incentive?
Q7. Firstly, does the Trust understand that having a near two-month period for staff to have no sickness over the Winter period promotes people hiding illnesses and therefore risking other staff and patients’ health so that they don't lose their incentive payments for incentivised shifts that they've already worked?
Q8. What happens if someone in your household tests positive and you have to isolate as per the Trusts current rules? Would you still lose your incentive payment for shifts already worked?
Q9. May I ask please why RRV shifts are not eligible for the incentive?
Q10. I’m a call handler in Essex EOC. Last night I was passing a call to West Midlands amb service, whilst waiting for an hour I was listening to their call waiting message saying ‘due to long waiting times if you are able to make your own way to hospital hang up and make your own way now, also if you are calling for an eta we can’t give you one, do not hang up and redial, you will go to the back of the queue again’. Why are we not doing something like this? We are calling back more and more abandoned calls than ever because people are so impatient. Also, the ECHM’s at the end of their call are able to say only call back if the patient stops breathing or goes unconscious why are the EMDs not able to do this? This would help stop so many people constantly calling back.
Q11. Here in West Suffolk, there are a couple of paramedics that find working with non-clinical drivers very stressful after 'bad jobs' where they were traumatised as a result of being unsupported and exposed because they were working with an NCD rather than someone clinical. Can they be reassured that this trauma isn't being compounded by forcing them to continue working with NCDs?
Q12. My question is why are you not up skilling Urgent/intermediate ACA’s to the role of ECA, I would not have thought it would be that hard to do in house training to up skill us to ECA as we have done most of the training when we became Urgent ACA’s, also there are a lot of the ACA’s are blue light trained.
Q13. What is the Trust doing to support those staff who are already set to work over this period with no incentive?
Q14. I have a question regarding incentive overtime and the sickness absences. Firstly, does a phased return prevent you from claiming your incentives as it is marked as 'Sickness rehab - return to work'. As it is a recommendation by OH I have two weeks which run into the Incentive period and do not think it is fair to be penalised and lose my incentive due to OH instructing me to have a phased return.
Q15. Another question regarding the no sickness during incentive period. Two months seems like it may result in people coming into work ill and potentially spreading illness as they do not wish to lose their incentives. It seems unrealistic that staff will not be able to take sickness during that period especially with the current Covid cases rising and the new variant where people may have to self-isolate.
Q16. With the recent introduction of the new C1 Priority Point deployment procedure, please may I ask what considerations have been made for the welfare of staff who are working on cars that aren’t level 1? I work on an RRV and recently found myself driving 100 miles and completing more than double the number of jobs my colleague (on the level 1 RRV) had completed. I understand the reasoning behind the procedure and whilst the intent is admirable, the document appears reactionary and ill conceived. Why can't the dispatcher on any particular desk be instructed to hold the last available car in an area as Level 1?
Q17. Could the incentive period be split into weeks like it has been so staff aren’t required to have a long period with no absence? We are already seeing lots of Covid related absences. Throw in the usual cold/flu/D&V sicknesses that are rife at the moment, the current timeframe is unrealistic and may deter staff from taking up incentive OT they know they may not be paid for? I feel this two-month window is almost there to hinder staff’s ability to earn their incentive payments. I understand the Trust needs to ensure patient facing hours are protected, but please consider breaking down this period to more reasonable lengths.
Q18. I have been stood down for 10 days due to being a contact of a colleague that tested positive for Covid. I have had my PCR test which has come back negative, so I'm healthy, not off sick but stood down for patient safety reasons so don't want to be victimised by doing the right thing. In the past we have received Annual Leave back that fell within this stand down period. Can I be reassured that any Annual Leave booked during this period will be returned? On my return I am planning to respond to the Overtime Incentive scheme by doing some extra shifts. Can I be again reassured that, as has always occurred in the past, I still satisfy the conditions to qualify for the Incentive Scheme despite this stand down period?
Q19. Whilst it is welcome to have any form of incentive for our staff to go above and beyond in terms of covering shifts, I can’t understand why the process has to be so divisive. Selecting staff groups against others (DSA’s but not RRV’s or TOC but not LOM’s or HALO’s) does not engender a team approach to the issues faced by us all.
I could go into lengthy detail about why RRV’s are as important as DSA’s or why HALO’s are as important as TOC but I feel the decision has been made and there will be no movement; I base this on the last few incentive schemes that had the same exclusions and there has been no change, despite staff highlighting the feeling that this is wrong and divisive.
The Christmas Day bonus is just as bad. Person A is on their shift and gets no incentive; Person B, who is Person A’s crewmate is on OT, gets double time + £250. How is that fair and equitable? How do you think Person A feels, particularly if they applied for leave to spend the day with their family but it was refused due to leave restrictions? Why not give those on rostered shifts a bonus as well? Person A gets £100, Person B gets double time + £150? This constitutes extra for giving up a day off plus rewards those who cannot avoid coming in.
Q20. Off with stress as the conduct of a manager towards me tipped me over the edge. I will now lose an incentive as a result. What is in place to stop me claiming to have a positive Covid-19 test to keep the incentive rather than being honest about the reasons as I have been?
Q21. Having a long period of not being sick until end of January may put pressure on people to come in ill. With Omicron now in our patch, is this going to be reviewed as only a month-by-month basis?
Q22. How can EEAST write a SOP regarding cohorting at acutes, effectively instructing a hospital that they MUST provide EEAST with a room with up to 8 beds (if they had the space, surely they would put patients in those beds!). Cohorting is not approved by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine - we've seen a document also countersigned by the College of Paramedics which does not support cohorting - how can the Trust therefore promote/insist on this scheme?
Q23. Why isn't Barton Mills allowed to fix ambulances anymore and instead we have to wait hours for a contractor to come out, causing increased vehicle downtime?
Q24. We aspire to be an employer of choice but will only fund (if you are very lucky) 20% of the cost of e.g., a Master’s degree whereas LAS fund 80%. They also give their staff £1000 each last year to spend on CPD. Why do we not do something similar?
Q25. Is there an outbreak of Covid within the Trust at the moment and if there is, will the Trust tell other staff what area it is? Will there be enhanced cleaning in these areas?
Q26. With the amount of comments about incentives - could Marcus and the ELT just say, "We have got it wrong" - after all, honesty is a Trust value.
The Executive Q&A sessions are held once a week, and are led by a member of the Exec team. You can find out details of the next briefing here.
Published 6th December 2021