Community Engagement Group (CEG) Report

Meeting: Trust Board – Public Meeting

Date: 9 July 2025

Report Title: Community Engagement Group (CEG) Report

Agenda Item: PUB25/07/6.5

Author: Rachel Morris, Head of Patient Experience (based on input from CEG)

Lead Director: Simon Chase, Chief Paramedic and Director of Quality

Purpose: Discussion/Review

Assurance: Reasonable

Link to CQC domain:

• Caring
• Responsive
• Effective
• Well-led
• Safe

Link to EEAST’s Strategic Mission:

• Patient Mission
• Partnership Mission
• People Mission
• Productivity Mission

Link to Strategic Risk:

• SR2 Quality Governance

Equality Impact Assessment: No negative impact identified

Previously considered by: This is a standing Public Board paper. The Community Engagement Group (CEG) has collectively supported their update at their June 2025 meeting.

Purpose To update the Trust Board around the work of the CEG and keep the Board appraised of both themes and trends emerging from their public engagement work, along with providing their views on how to further support the Trust as patient and public representatives.

Activity undertaken and achievements

April 2025 – Externally, members of the CEG engaged directly with 99 members of the public across six main engagement events, including attending U3A, Integrated Care Board (ICB) work and substantially inputting into national (NIHR) patient-centred research as patient and public representatives focussing on impacts for the Trust. CEG members have also been part of developing the National Volunteering strategy sharing the uniqueness of being the only CEG group across England and elsewhere.

Internal facing work from the CEG included completion of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) audits at stations, undertaking reviews of complaint responses, reviewing the Trust’s draft Quality Account and providing valuable feedback, notably drafting of a patients’ perspective to the Trust annual report as well as attending Trust meetings to amplify the patients’ voice which included Operational Delivery Groups, Patient Safety and Engagement group, Quality Governance Committee and VAF developments aligned with Trust Board’s agenda.

May 2025 – 105 members of the public were engaged with across 12 engagement events including CPR training, attending scout groups to educate about the ambulance service, supporting undergraduate students’ learning development, and attending local Healthwatch meetings. One CEG member for example, has been involved in local community health promotion work with their local Starbucks and Costa establishments. In addition to dedicated CEG specific events, members also supported the Trust Patient and Public Involvement Team and charity with their public engagement at the Suffolk Show, engaging with several hundred people and educating the public around the ambulance service, with a specific focus on EOC (call handling, triage, and dispatch).

Internal focused work included further reviews of the Quality Account, input around CQC feedback, and engagement with VAF and emphasis on co-production more widely when and where appropriate.

On a specific note, during May, the CEG onboarded its first volunteer under the age of 18, which the Volunteer Forum believe makes the Trust the first ambulance service in the country to accept volunteers aged 16 and 17 years old in line with established NHS initiatives for young people (YP). Establishing a ‘’youth CEG’ component has been an aspiration of the CEG for a number of years and is something that members have avidly initiated and supported in terms of reviewing proposed policy amendment, defining the role, raising support in the Trust, and widening the diversity and inclusivity recruitment goals noted in the Trust’s quality report. Since we onboarded our first young CEG member, existing members of the CEG have already contributed to work on developing the induction for 16- and 17-year-old CEG members and supported the public launch of under 18 volunteers during volunteer’s week. This achievement was championed by the CEG’s direct input into showcasing the Trust’s emergency responses in secondary schools.

Outcomes of the CEG work since the last Public Board meeting include members of the public being trained and more confident in providing basic life support, having a better understanding of the ambulance service and what happens when an ambulance is called, resulting in young people being enthused about a possible future career in the ambulance service. The Trust has also benefitted from patient representatives in meetings championing the patient voice, from links strengthened with local HealthWatch Committees and also from constructive input to Trust documents.

Upcoming work

The CEG will continue to support the Trust Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) team and charity with their public engagement at the Norfolk Show in June and will simultaneously focus on public education around the service at local and regional levels. Meanwhile, CEG members will continue with their own engagement and education events in their roles as ambassadors and critical friends of the Trust.

A particular focus for the CEG will be to continue to support the PPI team in the recruitment of under 18 volunteers and in the induction events for these young and younger CEG members. Given that 18 to 24-year-olds report the lowest level of satisfaction of all patient age groups, it is proposed that the young CEG members (currently two onboarded with other young people in the pipeline) undertake their own project around gaining feedback from their age group about healthcare concerns and access of relevant services. They will undertake the design of the feedback mechanisms and suggest relevant options to increase engagement from young people, enabling further exploration for the Trust into the causes of dissatisfaction for this age group.

The CEG have proposed that they dedicate some specific time to reviewing and evaluating their achievements and the impacts of their current workplan, as some areas have progressed in the last two years in ways differently to that originally planned, including other areas of the workplan that have stalled. With an influx of new members, the CEG have agreed that it is timely for a meaningful review of their current workplan and consider what is realistic productive and what will have maximum impact aligned to the Trust’s vision and mission 10-year plan.

Areas for consideration

Since the CEG have been attending the Public Board, they are delighted that there has been a noticeable increase in requests for CEG input and engagement in projects within the organisation not previously available. However, they are concerned that many of the requests received for CEG input to which they can actively contribute are at very short notice (less than 24-hours in some cases), and do not take account of the fact that the CEG are volunteers with many commitments outside EEAST, unlike salaried staff who can be expected to be available at short notice. The CEG would kindly request that the PPI team is given as much advanced notice of projects as possible to allow as many CEG members as possible the opportunity to attend meetings and engage with these projects. They have readily available a wide and diverse talent pool of experiences from their current and past employments, including the NHS and other organisations that could effectively benefit the Trust appropriately.

The CEG would also like to express their sincere thanks and proud appreciation for the level of engagement facilitated by the Board and the Executive team; notably that the level of information and input they are currently receiving and sharing helps them to be better informed when engaging with the public, which in turn supports their ongoing engagements to provide the Trust with a better representation of the patient and public voice and potential effectiveness of their service provisions.

How does this report link with EEAST’s vision, purpose and values?

The CEG constantly and actively strive for improvement in the Trust’s service delivery, and this report reflects the work they undertake towards understanding and representing the public voice and supporting the Trust to continually improve outcomes and experiences for patients.

Summary

The Community Engagement Group has engaged with more than 200 members of the public across 18 of their own events over the last two months, covering all areas of the Trust footprint, as well as supporting the Trust PPI team at larger engagement events, including representations at relevant local, regional, and national initiatives and events. The CEG has also actively contributed internally by attending, collaborating with, and supporting various Trust meetings to promote and champion the patient voice, and providing constructive commentary from a public perspective on Trust documents and care delivery.