Welfare Wagons will offer revamped services

The Wellbeing Team is pleased to announce that welfare wagons will continue to provide wellbeing support to our staff and volunteers with a revamped model supported by the funding from East of England Ambulance Service Charity.

The welfare wagons were launched during the pandemic to support frontline staff at emergency departments during periods of high demand. Welfare wagons were introduced to travel around emergency departments within our region with the sole purpose of providing complimentary hot, cold drinks and snacks.

As the service continued, it soon became apparent these vehicles were perfectly positioned to have a much more profound impact. The staff feedback was extremely positive with suggestions for a wider range of support from the vans, more than just drinks and snacks.

We are really pleased to announce that as from autumn, we will be launching 6 new vans. The new revamped model will transform the wagons to a mobile wellbeing service to better meet the needs of our staff and volunteers. The new model will continue to distribute drinks and light snacks by a team of volunteers but will also develop the existing wellbeing wagon model, from tea and snack vehicle to a dedicated wellbeing support vehicle, providing a wide scope of health and wellbeing support to all East of England Ambulance Service Trust (EEAST) staff and volunteers, whilst at Emergency Departments, Emergency Operations Centres, stations, and offices across our region.

These new welfare volunteers are a team who will be trained in basic mental health awareness and wellbeing support to confidently signpost colleagues to wellbeing activities and support on offer.

The wagons will also provide additional support from guest specialists such as physiotherapists, mental health needs, trauma support, crisis management, access to occupational health clinics, TRiM Practitioners among others. These services will enable staff and volunteers to access invaluable expert advice in a safe space. So that these can be advertised and scheduled in, the service will be supported by a Project Coordinator, a dedicated resource from within the Health & Wellbeing Team to assist in leading the project. Ongoing user surveys and engagement will help to shape the service over the months, to ensure the right support is accessible. Additionally, where trends in needs are identified, targeted workstreams or training will also be provided in a proactive manner.

To support staff further, members of executive team, senior managers and leader from within the Trust will volunteer to support the Welfare Wagons, to offer our people the time to speak with them, when communication can be hampered due to busy shift schedules.

We are really hoping that by the impact of having these extra services, this will mean that our people will feel more valued, and a more supported workforce will be better placed to deliver high quality care to our patients.

The April Pulse survey results provided a positive overview of supportive conversations taking place around wellbeing. The wellbeing of our staff is extremely important and it’s essential that conversations take place and necessary support is provided.

We are continually reviewing and increasing the support available to staff following your feedback and are extremely delighted to continue providing better service with our new and improved welfare wagons.

Published 2nd August 2023