Chief executive officer’s report - September 2025

Meeting: Trust Board – Public Meeting

Date: 10 September 2025

Report Title: Chief Executive’s Report

Agenda Item: PUB25/09/1.6

Author: Liz Cunnell, Chief of Staff

Lead Director: Neill Moloney, Chief Executive Officer

Purpose: Information/Noting

Assurance: Substantial

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

Previously considered by: N/A

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.

Executive Summary:

Personal Reflection

I know that although the summer has been beautiful and sunny, providing many with the opportunity to take a break, it has also been challenging for colleagues managing childcare, exam results, and preparing for night shifts. I hope that many of you have had the opportunity to take a break and recharge in preparation for the coming months.

Over the last few months, I have attended a number of long service events to celebrate with our colleagues’ service to patients and our organisation. It has been an honour to be part of these events and recognise our people and their families for the sacrifices made over such long careers.

Organisational Performance

Our operational teams continue to work hard to achieve the performance targets agreed with NHS England as part of our operating plan. Our performance for Category 2 calls continues to improve and is now better than planned targets – although still requires more improvement to meet national targets. At the end of August, our C2 performance was 31.13 minutes, 4 minutes ahead of our regionally agreed target.

Hear and Treat rates slightly fell in July 2025 (14.2% in June to 13.7% in July). It is important that we continue to manage the demand on our services through alternative routes, and we are recruiting additional Clinical Assessment Service (CAS) clinicians to work from our control rooms to support our patients in receiving the right care first time.

The call answering mean target for July was met at 3.82 seconds, complying with both local and national targets. Teams are now working on improving efficiency in the call cycle time to drive further improvements. We are also conducting an intensive recruitment drive to increase workforce numbers to sustain improvement through winter.

On 9 September, our Norwich Emergency Operations Centre is celebrating Emergency Day with an open event to improve call handler recruitment. Along with my Executive colleagues, I will be in Norwich for the day to celebrate and assist with promoting our service. It’s really important that we use these days to recognise the hard work and commitment of all our emergency teams in all areas of the Trust. A huge thank you to everyone for everything you do for our patients.

Regulatory Update - Care Quality Commission (CQC)

Since our last public board, the Trust has engaged through its established relationship meetings with the HSE on two further occasions, discussing and providing evidence of progress around staff welfare support, through the recently launched conflict management and intervention training, the refreshed and expanded health and wellbeing offer, the updated FTSU policy, and the ongoing Time to Listen events. Later this month, the Trust will share the work completed through the leadership development framework, demonstrating our commitment to strengthening line management support for all staff. The Trust remains on target against the Notice of Contravention, and the next formal submission will take place at the beginning of October for HSE review and feedback.

In relation to the CQC, there will be a more detailed report later in the agenda. I am pleased to see progress continues to be made against the warning notices issued earlier this year, but I remain disappointed that our inspection report from November 2024 is still outstanding. However, once received, the Trust will review it thoroughly and work on any further areas of improvement identified.

Time To Listen

In spring, we launched our “Big Conversation” project, an engagement programme to listen to the views of our people, followed by meaningful action. One of the asks from our people was for our leaders to be more visible. In response, we launched Time To Listen, where on nominated dates each month, all senior leaders visit stations, offices, and control rooms to listen to our people.

The first event was held in August, and I was delighted by the response of both leaders and staff. The feedback is being reviewed and actioned. Importantly, it has been well received by all involved and has given us the opportunity to understand what we can do to support our people in improving the service for patients.

As the lead for the work stream, further updates will follow in this report, but the initial themes for feedback are as follows:

In addition, throughout August we have been running Quick Fix Clinics every Monday, dealing with simple issues for staff. Quick Fix Clinics are support surgeries designed to tackle problems directly and quickly, focused on practical solutions. They were also introduced in response to feedback gathered through the Big Conversation.

Engagement

It is with great sadness that I share the sudden passing of our Hertfordshire and West Essex colleague, Aman Farid, Emergency Care Assistant (ECA).

Aman joined us in mid-Hertfordshire on 23 October 2023 as an apprentice ECA and quickly demonstrated his determination and dedication to a career pathway he had aspired to from a young age. Aman’s commitment saw him successfully complete his apprenticeship and progress to a fully qualified ECA role, with plans for further career development towards his ultimate goal of becoming a qualified paramedic.

On behalf of myself and EEAST, we offer our heartfelt condolences to Aman’s family, friends, and colleagues.

Celebrations

TrainEEAST

I am delighted to report that TrainEEAST, the Trust’s commercial training team, has received Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) Advanced Life Support (ALS) Centre status. This will not only benefit internal staff but will also allow us to provide ALS courses to other organisations and external candidates, generating income via the Trust’s commercial services for reinvestment into Trust-wide innovation.

Palace Recognition for Paramedic

A paramedic from EEAST has been recognised for his dyslexia advocacy and charity work by attending a royal garden party at Buckingham Palace.

Justin Honey-Jones, who has dyslexia, has been a paramedic for 10 years and is also chair of the Hearts for Herts charity, which aims to increase the number of publicly accessible defibrillators in the county.

In May, he attended a royal garden party at the Palace, where he had the opportunity to speak to Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, about his work supporting neurodivergent staff in the ambulance service. Thanks to Justin’s efforts, EEAST became the first emergency service in the UK to achieve the British Dyslexia Association’s Silver Employer Award last year.

International Nurses

July and August 2025 mark a significant milestone for our international nurses from the Philippines: one year since cohorts one and two arrived in the UK and began their journey with EEAST.

This is a moment of pride and celebration, as we reflect on their achievements and the incredible support that helped them along the way.

Over the past year, these dedicated professionals have:

• Passed their OSCE exams, officially registering as nurses in the UK.
• Completed Emergency Care Assistant and Pre-Hospital Nurse Practitioner training, gaining essential skills for their roles.
• Adapted to UK culture, embracing new experiences and even travelling to other countries.
• Joined our ambulance crews, proudly serving on the frontline and making a real difference in patient care across the region.

Their journey has been filled with challenges, but also with growth, resilience, and community spirit. None of this would have been possible without the collective support of so many people across EEAST - from trainers, administrative staff, colleagues, and managers to volunteers and leadership teams.

I would like to share my gratitude to them all and for the teams that have supported them with this great achievement.

Honorary Companionship from College of Paramedics

he College of Paramedics held their Honours and Awards ceremony at Keele University, Staffordshire, to celebrate the dedication and compassion of those in the profession. I am very proud to share that Dawn Poulson Whelan, Sector Partnerships Lead and Chair of the AACE National Ambulance Disability Network, received recognition for her work in the field around inclusivity and was awarded an Honorary Companionship at the event.

Many congratulations to Dawn on this achievement.

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 who have welcomed me so warmly. I have visited the following stations:

• Lord Lieutenant for Bedfordshire
• Waveney Depot and James Paget Hospital
• Longwater, Norwich EOC, Barton Mills
• Rayleigh, Basildon, Southend, Chelmsford, Chelmsford EOC
• Colchester, Ipswich
• Bedford EOC, Kempston

Given the extensive political changes across the region, I have also met with several MPs to share information and build relationships. I have met with the following MPs:

• Rachel Hopkins MP – completed a ride out on the CFR car in Luton
• Meeting with Haverhill Town Council to discuss Ambulance cover
• Alice MacDonald MP – Hellesdon EOC
• Richard Fuller MP – North Bedfordshire
• Daisy Cooper MP – St Albans