Need to know
For #TeamEEAST Last updated: 30 April 2024 at 09:58
Many of you have been in touch with really positive feedback on the news published in Need to Know last week, particularly about the new drugs, the Magnum boots and the ECA to EMT modular course. Thank you for taking the time to get in contact, it is extremely pleasing to know we are on the right track to making EEAST a better place to work.
There is only one month to go until my priority of having every ambulance and response car in the Trust under five years old is completed. Our fleet has been transformed in the last 13 months and there are only 37 more ambulances of the latest 120 replacement programme to deliver by 31st March and I would like to thank the fleet team for their hard work in making this happen. We now have an agreed life cycle for ambulances and cars which is five years and three years respectively, so that we will continue to have a modern and reliable fleet that provides a better experience for patients and for you. We have already placed the order for this year’s replacement ambulances and response cars.
We have had an excellent response to the latest student paramedic advert and have received more than 500 applications in a week, which shows the appetite to join this great profession and this organisation is still very much there. We’ve also had some excellent coverage of the recruitment on BBC Look East and BBC radio stations this week. The recruitment assessments have also been refreshed to ensure we recruit the best possible people, so thank you to the HR team for all of their work on this most recent campaign.
This week I met with Fraer, UNISON Branch Secretary, and we discussed the early results from their ‘Put back the Heart’ campaign after more than 1,500 of you took part in the survey. I share the passion to ensure all of you are fully supported, and we will work together to bring in measures to tackle some of the long-standing issues evidenced in this survey. One matter raised was the effect of late finishes on operational staff, and we will be discussing this with senior operational colleagues to review the end-of-shift policy, to help better protect crews from the pressures caused by late finishes.
If you haven’t done so already, I’d once again encourage you to complete our online values survey; it’s key that we gather as many opinions as possible so we can make sure our Trust values align with what you, as our staff, think is important. So far you’ve voted highly for values like being patient-focused, professional and passionate about what we do – all words that embody what the ambulance service is all about, so thank you. The survey will close soon and we will share the results as soon as possible.
Published 19th February 2015