Members working for the East of England Ambulance Trust have reacted with fury after the chief executive set out changes to their working conditions that he described as ‘controversial, unpalatable and even draconian.’
Branch secretary Fraer Stevenson said the Trust had spent 10 months promising to reduce enforced overtime for ambulance crews. “We have crews regularly working 14 or 15 hour shifts and recently one crew in Norfolk were forced to work a 20.5 hour shift. This is a huge risk for patient safety and staff welfare. The chief executive and Trust chair have both acknowledged staff are exhausted and working under enormous pressure. They then told staff by email that meal breaks would be reduced and existing measures to reduce late finishes would cease.”
The branch has been campaigning for changes to better support staff and to reduce enforced overtime.The branch made made a short and very powerful film to highlight the issue https://vimeo.com/148792759 In it members talk openly about the stress they face because of working excessive hours and their fears that this could lead to the deaths of patients and staff.
1541 staff identified enforced overtime as the main stressor in a branch survey. The survey also highlighted this area has worsened in results recently published by the Ambulance Trust.
The branch is concerned that there is a growing divide between the Board and their front-line staff. Fraer told us that the Trust has the worse staff retention out of any Ambulance Trust in the UK. “These proposals are going to make the situation worse. Committed, experienced staff are voting with their feet and walking away. The biggest reason why the Trust can’t meet its performance targets is the fact that it can’t keep its staff and these changes will make the situation far worse. Staff look to their chief executive and the chair for support and protection, especially when they are already struggling to cope with the pressures. Putting forwards these measures will destroy the trust placed in them by their staff. Ambulance staff and the general public deserve better leadership.”
The number one reason for sickness in the East of England Ambulance Trust is stress and mental health difficulties. The Trust has the highest attrition rates of frontline staff, with 319 staff leaving in 12 months. The Ambulance trust with the second highest attrition rate is the London Ambulance Service, which has recently been put into Special measures, following an inspection by the CQC.