Chief executive officer’s report

Meeting: Trust Board – Public Meeting

Date: 9 July 2025

Report Title: Chief Executive Officer’s Report

Agenda Item: PUB25/07/1.6

Author: Liz Cunnell, Chief of Staff

Lead Director: Neill Moloney, Chief Executive Officer

Purpose: Information/Noting

Link to CQC domain: Responsive, Well-led

Link to EEAST’s Strategic Mission:

Patient Mission
Partnership Mission
People Mission
Productivity Mission

Link to Strategic Risk:

SR1 Demand and Capacity
SR2 Quality Governance
SR3 Infrastructure
SR4 Finance and Resources
SR5 Cyber Security
SR6 System Partnership
SR7 Workforce Sustainability
SR8 Staff Retention
SR9 Organisational Development
SR10 Corporate Efficiency Programme (CEP25)

Equality Impact Assessment: No negative impact identified

Purpose: To provide an update from the Chief Executive to the Board of Directors on the activities of the Trust since its last meeting.

Recommendation: Board members are asked to note the report.

Personal Reflection:

In June we celebrated Volunteers week at EEAST, and I was honoured to be part of a long service event for 12 of our longest serving volunteers to start the week. Together, their voluntary service amounted to almost 250 years. Each of the volunteers were celebrating their 20- and 25-year anniversaries with the Trust. I am extremely grateful for the time given by all our volunteers as community first responders, on Welfare Wagons, volunteer drivers and fleet volunteers.

I also had the privilege of spending a shift with the Norfolk Accident Rescue Service and the Beds and Herts Emergency Critical Care Scheme. It was great to meet their crews who are supporting our Critical Care response voluntarily. I look forward to working collaboratively with all our charitable partners to ensure we are continuing to deliver excellent patient care.

I was truly humbled by the passion and commitment of all the colleagues I met during this important week dedicated to volunteers. Nationally our volunteers donate more of their time than in any other ambulance service. A huge thank you to you all from everyone at EEAST for the work you do to strengthen our response to patients.

Organisational Performance:

In May we saw a 5% increase in 999 calls compared to April - and yet, thanks to the incredible dedication of our call handlers, we maintained an exceptional average call answer time of just two seconds.

In May, Category 1 response times improved to 8 minutes 25 seconds, shaving off 10 seconds from April – our performance since August 2024.

Category 2 response times also improved to 32 minutes 11 seconds, the best response time in over two years and over eight minutes better than May last year.

Our Hear and Treat rate reached 14.65%, exceeding our target of 13% – a clear sign of the patient-focused decisions being made every day to ensure people are getting the right treatment in the right place, first time.

These improvements have been delivered through improvements in productivity and a reduction in hospital handover delays. We recognise that more work is required to align our performance with the national targets, and our focus remains on continuous improvement

Regulatory Update:

Care Quality Commission (CQC)

The CQC, during their visit last year, found areas requiring significant and rapid improvement. Progress on these requirements has been monitored monthly through the Rapid Quality Review meetings. The recorded improvements to date mean these are being stood down and changed to bi-monthly quality reports.

Health and Safety Executive (HSE)

Following an inspection in September, we received a letter from the HSE in April identifying contraventions in Health and Safety law. The Trust has taken actions to address the concerns:

A review has been undertaken of the causes of work-related stress, and a revised workplace stress risk assessment for operational, EOC and Corporate staff has been completed
Set up monthly relationship meetings with HSE to help shape the action plan further to address areas by October 2025.
Engaged the organisation through the ‘BIG Conversation’ and identified areas of focus which include working to tackle end of shift through effective handovers, redefining respect and introducing safer systems as key topics to support both CQC and HSE improvements.

Executive Update:

Kevin Smith, our Director of Finance, is retiring at the end of July. Kevin has been a dedicated and highly respected member of our executive team and has served the Trust for 20 years. His leadership has been instrumental in strengthening our financial position and guiding us through some of our most challenging times. He will be greatly missed by us all – in particular, his sense of humour and unerring commitment to patients, staff and ensuring value for money. We are all very grateful for his years of service.

A recruitment campaign has been running since the end of April to recruit to a number of vacant roles within the Executive team.

Chief Financial Officer Steven Course will join EEAST as our new Chief Financial Officer, starting 11 July. Steven joins us from Norfolk and Waveney ICB and brings a wealth of experience that will be vital as we continue to deliver on our financial and strategic priorities. I look forward to welcoming Steven to the team.

Chief Operating Officer Darren Meads has been appointed as our Chief Operating Officer. Darren has already made a significant impact in the role as interim COO, and I am confident he will continue to drive improvements in operational performance and productivity.

Director of Digital Innovation We have appointed Sian Clark as our new Director of Digital Innovation. Sian brings with her a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to driving meaningful change across healthcare through digital innovation.

Sian has held a variety of roles spanning project and change management, strategic planning, commissioning, financial turnaround, and service improvement. Her background also includes two years in higher education planning.

Her career has also taken her internationally, including a scholarship with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in the USA and a visit to NASA.

Sian will join us from her current role as the Chief Digital Information Officer at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, where she led digital services for over 12,000 users across more than 100 sites.

I am confident that Sian’s appointment will enhance our service to patients and help our people succeed.

Portfolio Change: Hein Scheffer, Director of Strategy and Transformation

The publication of the NHS 10-year plan shows that ambulance services have a key role in delivery of the transformation of patient care, working with healthcare partners to assist with moving care from hospital to the community and digital innovation.

We need an executive team in place to take the lead as an integrator of care in the healthcare system to drive avoidance of hospital admission. This requires expertise in digital innovation working alongside Board colleagues and in particular the Chief Operating Officer to deliver on improved Hear and Treat and C2 segmentation, which is where Sian Clark, our new Director of Digital Innovation, will be so important.

I have reviewed the existing executive portfolios and have agreed that Hein Scheffer will take on a new role as Director of Strategy, Transformation and Governance, with responsibility for strategic planning, transformation, partnerships and corporate governance.

These changes reflect our commitment to building a strong leadership team focused on delivering for our patients, supporting our people, and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Trust.

Engagement:

Celebrations

Staff Networks Conference From 23-27 June, we hosted our first Staff Networks Conference here at EEAST, with a variety of webinars and workshops with speakers from across the country and within our organisation.

It has been a great collaboration of all the staff support networks, who came together to share knowledge and experiences and celebrate how diversity and inclusion within the Trust really benefit everyone.

A huge thank you to everyone who attended, to our amazing presenters, and to all of you who have supported our networks as they continue to grow and evolve.

Welfare Wagons It has now been just over a year since the welfare wagons officially hit the road! We are thrilled to see more and more of you engaging with them, especially in areas where their increased utilisation is becoming a regular and welcome sight. We are also continuing to safely grow our team of volunteers so we can bring the wagons to more of you.

A huge thank you to all our volunteers who support them.

Southend Ambulance Shift It was great to spend a 12-hour shift with a crew in Southend on 16 May. A huge thank you to the crew for looking after me during the shift and providing a valuable insight into our service. I was hugely impressed by the care and professionalism of the crew and colleagues we met during the day.

Engagement

I am committed to spending one day each week travelling around the organisation meeting with our people, listening to ideas and getting to know the patch. Thank you to all those I have met for the very warm welcome. I have visited the following stations:

Bedford EOC, Kempston, Luton, Stevenage, Watford, West Herts Ambulance Station
Big Conversations: Suffolk
Bedford Mayor, Bedford HOSC, Luton HOSC

Given the extensive political changes across the region, I have also been meeting a number of our MPs to share information and build relationships. I met with the following MP:

Pippa Heylings, MP for South Cambs.