Staff Feedback and Survey
48% of our colleagues took the time to tell us what they think about working for EEAST, which was the same response that we saw in 2020.
We still have the lowest score among ambulance trusts, which was disappointing, but understandable given the challenges we faced and the work we know we still have to do.
The survey identified some important improvements made over the year:
- fewer colleagues experienced bullying from managers or feeling pressure from managers to come into work when feeling unwell
- A greater number of colleagues felt safe to report unsafe clinical practice indicating we are creating a culture which is becoming more open and which can learn from mistakes when they happen. That sense of increased safety was also reflected in fewer colleagues experiencing violence from members of the public
There are other areas where weve seen a reduction in our score, the most important of which are that fewer colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work and that more colleagues feel that relationships are under strain. We also scored low on colleagues ability to access training.
This was not a surprise given the sustained pressures that we have all been working under within the NHS and health system and will help us focus as we move into 2022-23 on how we tackle these pressures sustainably.
We know that we have further work to do to tackle the deep-rooted, long-standing issues which have affected colleagues and we are moving quickly to accomplish this. Our focus will build on our initial steps to increasingly make our Trust a better place to work for everyone. We are doing this in a number of ways including:
- Finalising our people strategy and launching a new approach to training and education for our people
- Strengthening our people services team so we can sustainably manage employee relations cases and begin to tackle the root cause of these cases by creating a team of business partners working alongside managers to help resolve issues at work and to speed up our systems and processes
- Commissioning an independent review of race and disability within our Trust so we can get to the core of issues of discrimination and redouble our efforts to be a truly inclusive place to work
- Further developing our approach to health and well-being
As we move forwards, we will be measuring our progress against the pillars of the NHS People Promise, which sets out a vision for everyone who works in the NHS.
Our three areas for priority include:
We are always learning
- Appraisals
- Career development
- Supported to develop
- Access to training
We are recognised and rewarded
- Recognition for work
- Feeling valued
- Appreciation from leaders / colleagues
- Manager values me
We are safe and healthy
- Wellbeing
- Safe environment
- Positive relationships
