Need to know
For #TeamEEAST Last updated: 06 May 2024 at 13:16
This week's We Are EEAST Briefing was led by Chief Executive Tom Abell.
This week Tom was joined by Jason Gillingham, Rob Riches and Tom Hickey who discussed the Trust's response to operational pressures.
Questions for clinical team
Q1 - Rob how is all this being done fairly and equitably across the organisation?
Q2 - Very happy to hear of the ongoing work in the triage/prioritisation aspect in AOC. Is there any discussion about upskilling current members of AOC staff to do this? At a time when staff retention is a major problem, developing staff would show that they are valued and help with motivation.
Questions for Tom
Q1 - Could I please ask what's the Trust's stance is on staff being unwell with long COVID....is it considered to be an industrial injury and whether their pay should be affected by that? Thank you.
Q2 - Last week, the Q&A session was bombarded with concerns regarding incentive schemes, yet we were only provided with 'political' answers. Why are staff concerns NOT being listened to? We are stating that RRVs are important, hence having one per STP as a Level 1 resource, yet staff on a RRV can't get an incentive. Do we need RRVs or not? HALOs, LOMs etc STILL overlooked and feeling extremely undervalued. Thoughts?
Q3 - I attended a values and behaviours Teams session recently. Asked to make a pledge to not accept inappropriate behaviour/not engage in relationships at work. There's plenty of the ELT and other managers who have relationships with colleagues - your view?
Q4 - So - the Trust do not 'promote' Christmas gatherings, but then invite staff via Need to Know to a carol service in a confined space? Contradiction?
Q5 - Why is it the incentive has come out again and yet again the LOM's are specifically barred from it if we cover dropped LOM shifts, why are we being treated this way, do I not have a vital role to play in Ops, are you happy to have dropped LOM shifts while a band 7 manager sits on an ambulance instead?
Q6 - Are you satisfied with the progress with reducing cases of bullying in the trust? Still cases of director/s and other senior leaders bullying staff - are the directors/deputy directors etc protected?
Q7 - Do you feel that the Unison branch team are truly representative of our people, or are they just focusing on their own agenda?
Q8 - Those on band 8 and above, and those with a -2 overtime bank contract still waiting for the 'flowers' payments - any update?
Q9 - Quick question if I may regarding iPads for bank staff. Is there any way bank staff can be included or at least spare iPads be put on stations? Some stations are starting to have paper PCRs taken off trucks; I'm not sure if this is a Trust directive or a local manager choice. However, working as a bank EMT the accessibility I have to paper PCRs seems to be decreasing. Furthermore, the speed at which we can complete ePCRs is much faster than PCRs; including speeding up handovers and booking patients in. The simple solution is for bank staff to use their crew members iPads, however when the crew member also doesn't hold an iPad or has an issue where their iPad is not usable the solution is hampered. Given the pressures on the service at the minute this does decrease the number of patients we can see a day. I appreciate not all bank staff members work enough shifts for this to be appropriate; however, even having a stack of spare iPads on station would be very useful, especially in complex patients where accessing GP Connect is a treat! Could this please be considered?
Q10 - How is this being funded?
Q11 - Our local paper recently ran a piece stating that the CCG had given caring staff £400 each as a retention/thank you bonus. Are we doing something similar? Or are we using the money for incentives so many staff with family commitments over Christmas miss out?
Q12 - Has any thought been given to staff that have moved to non-clinical roles but are blue light trained to have a driving reassessment to then work as NCD's but with experience? This might allow support staff who get NO incentives double pay etc to work longer or extra hours to support the Trusts operational demands.
Q13 - Now that the PM has stated that the 3rd COVID Booster can be received after only 3 months, but that you have to wait till your GP contacts you; is EEAST going to offer (and when) staff with the 3rd Booster as part of being a Healthcare employee and as 3 months have elapsed since their 2nd booster?
Q14 - We had the Advanced Paramedic cars, management took them away, rotational models are working well in other Trusts why are we so far behind everywhere in the country?
Q15 - With your comments on career do you have any plans to improve the situation for staff who have applied themselves and made it to band 7 yet if they want to go further they have to accept a pay cut, yes this is the 25% issue but in real terms going from 7 to 8 means a loss of over £3000 per year and more, what are your thoughts?
Q16 - What is the Trust doing about those individuals who make FALSE allegations about colleagues? It can be so damaging for those under investigation...leads to no case to answer....and then there is no come back for vexatious claims. Is this fair?
Q17 - A simple example of road staff frustration is the following… if I am sat in a nice care home for 1 hour I will get a welfare call, but if sat at hospital for 3 hrs plus we get nothing.
Q18 - Will the band 8 and -2 overtime flowers payments now apparently being paid in January include additional interest payments at 8% for the delay?
Q19 - Do you have 100% confidence in your executive leadership team? Do you truly know them?
Q20 - The PM announced yesterday we should work from home, where possible. If Support Staff have recently returned to office working in an attempt to return to business as usual should we now return to working from home from Monday?
Q21 - Following on from the EEAST veteran awareness awards and gold award how many army reserve staff do we have on mobilisation at the moment and how do we support those doing 2 roles?
Q22 - If someone can get 8% interest, please publish the provider :):)d
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 13th December 2021