East of England Ambulance Service
At EEAST we are creating a modern, fit for purpose ambulance service that meets the needs of our communities.
Every member of staff at EEAST is important, as everyone plays a part in meeting our vision - to provide an innovative, responsive, excellent service which is always community focused and patient driven.
Welcome
Dear candidate,
I would like to thank you for your interest in joining East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) as our new Chief Executive Officer.
EEAST have a bold vision to ensure that the people of the East of England region are provided with excellent emergency and urgent care from our dedicated team of nearly 5,000 staff and 1,500 volunteers. Our overarching aim is to place patients and staff at the heart of everything we do while delivering our vision of ‘outstanding care, exceptional people, every hour of every day. This vision is supported by our organisational goals:
- Be an exceptional place to work, volunteer and learn.
- Provide outstanding quality of care and performance.
- Be excellent collaborators and innovators as system partners.
- Be an environmentally and financially sustainable organisation.
As you may be aware, EEAST has had several historical and some new challenges in delivering on our vision. Since August 2021 we have:
- Appointed seven new executive directors, four to newly created posts designed to fundamentally change our culture and position EEAST as a value-added partner across the six systems in which we operate and provide increased levels of support to our staff.
- Made significant progress in delivering cultural change and organisational transformation which has been recognised through staff surveys and CQC, EHRC and HHE recognition.
- Improved inclusivity and diversity across the Trust
- Developed new clinical and workforce strategies.
- Delivered improvements in partnership working and stakeholder engagement.
Whilst we are rated as “Good” by the CQC for the quality of care we provide, we know there is much work still to be done. At this stage in our evolution, EEAST is seeking a new Chief Executive Officer who will be a visible and inspirational leader, utilise innovative thinking and strategic leadership in developing an exemplar ambulance service, providing excellent care to patients, drive a culture of continuous improvement, roll out our ambitious strategic plans and create an inclusive organisation where staff want to work and develop their careers.
This will be a challenging, and I believe very rewarding role that will enable you to fully utilise your:
- Clear focus and delivery of values-based leadership.
- Experience and successful track record of contributing to organisational turnaround and cultural change.
- Track record of delivering effective system wide partnership working.
- Leadership style that focuses on holding to account in a fair and compassionate way.
The Chief Executive Officer Job Description and Person Specification were co-produced by our staff. We held five focus groups that were attended by over 60 staff, volunteers and partners from across the organisation and systems we work in. We also had 197 responses to a staff poll seeking feedback from our people and intend to be open and transparent with them throughout the recruitment process.
Several big themes emerged. For example – staff want someone who will continue to engage with staff, be visible and listen to stakeholders; help EEAST become more inclusive and improve culture and behaviours across the organisation; has the skills to lead the next stage of our development and drive through some of the barriers; and someone who understands the role of the ambulance sector in the wider health and care system.
I am ambitious for EEAST and the systems in which we operate and truly believe this is an exciting opportunity to create a modern, fit for purpose ambulance service that meets the needs of our communities.
There are few organisations like ours within the NHS which gives you the opportunity to make a real difference for over six million people and the opportunity to set the agenda for the future of urgent and emergency care across an entire region.
Are you interested in becoming our Chief Executive Officer and continuing the transformation of East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust? If so, I look forward to reviewing your application.
Mrunal Sisodia OBE
Trust Chair
June 2024
About us
Outstanding Care, Exceptional People, Every Hour of Every Day
East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust are one of the largest ambulance services in the UK. Our dedicated people are our biggest asset and provide 24 hour, 365 days a year emergency services to around 6.2 million people in six counties, Norfolk, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Suffolk which is an area of about 7,500 square miles. In addition, we provide non-emergency patient transport services for patients needing non-emergency transport to and from hospital, treatment centres and other similar facilities and who can't travel unaided because of their medical condition or frailty across most of the above counties. Our region encompasses tranquil rural retreats, busy seaside resorts and large urban conurbations.
Our varied and modern services are tailor-made for each community’s differing environmental and medical needs, from cycles to rapid response cars, frontline ambulances and emergency care practitioners. We have excellent working partnerships with other emergency services including Aire Ambulance organisations. We attend more than one million emergency calls a year, and our patient transport service make nearly 1.5 million patient journeys to and from routine hospital appointments.
Our resources and teams include
- Nearly 5000 staff and more than 1,500 volunteers
- Three ambulance operations centres (AOCs) (Bedford, Chelmsford and Norwich)
- Nearly 400 front line ambulances
- Nearly 200 rapid response vehicles
- Nearly 200 non-emergency ambulances (PTS and HCRTs vehicles)
- Nearly 50 HART/major incident/resilience vehicles
- More than 130 sites.
During 2022-23 the Trust spent just over £420m.
Our vision
Outstanding care, exceptional people, every hour of every day
Messages from EEAST staff
Dr Ed Garratt OBE DL, Chief Executive, NHS Suffolk and North East Essex ICB Board
Our core values
Outstanding Care, Exceptional People, Every Hour of Every Day
Care
We value warmth, empathy and compassion in all our relationships
Teamwork
Together as one, we work with pride and commitment to achieve our vision
Quality
We strive to consistently achieve high standards through continuous improvement
Respect
We value individuals, including our patients, our staff and our partners in every interaction
Honesty
We value a culture that has trust, integrity and transparency at the centre of everything we do.
Additional information
Click the below links to view:
Go to the EEAST website www.eastamb.nhs.uk for more information
Trust Headquarters is at Melbourn, Cambridgeshire and there are local offices in Bedford, Chelmsford and Norwich.
Chief Executive Officer
Salary: Competitive Location: Cambridgeshire
Outstanding Care, Exceptional People, Every Hour of Every Day
Serving a population of 6.3 million people across 7,500 square miles, East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust provides both accident and emergency services and non-emergency transport to the communities of the East of England. With over 5000 staff, 1000 volunteers and 498 frontline vehicles (with the intention to grow to 525 by October 2024). We work across 6 Integrated Care Systems to deliver patient focused care across the region, and we received 1,384,547 emergency 999 calls last year.
We are firmly on an improvement pathway. NHS England has recognised the progress we have made and removed us from the National Recovery Support Programme (formerly known as Special Measures) earlier this year. We were placed in special measures in 2020 following concerns relating to culture, leadership and governance. A 2020 CQC inspection highlighted a number of significant concerns and significant progress has been made in addressing CQC conditions, with only two remaining open. Both are expected to close by the end of the financial year. These improvements underscore our commitment to upholding the highest standards of quality and safety and reflect the hard work of our people. However, we recognise there is much more still to do, and we continue to work closely with NHS England.
We have also taken a number of actions to drive culture change and improve the wellbeing of our people which is demonstrated through improvements in our staff survey results and retention data. We remain steadfast in our commitment to driving positive change, enhancing patient care, and fostering a culture of wellbeing and quality at EEAST.
Whilst we are rated as “Good” by the CQC for the quality of care we provide, we know there is much work still to be done. Having achieved much in the last 3 years, we are looking for a compassionate and inspirational Chief Executive Officer to lead in continuing to drive that change and deliver on the excellent strategic and operational plans established.
The role requires an experienced, values-driven senior leader who has a flexible leadership style, one who excels in, and enjoys, leading from the front in situations demanding an urgent response, but is also committed to developing teams and individuals to achieve personal potential and secure enduring success for EEAST. The successful candidate will foster an inclusive, open, and respectful culture, true to the NHS and Trust values, whilst also delivering on in-year performance and planning for the longer-term future.
You will have a strong track record of leading organisations by empowering staff, developing a strong senior team, and ensuring culture change which benefits staff and service quality. As we strive to become an organisation known for its outstanding provision of services and for being a great place to work, we need an exceptional leader with a record of developing staff motivation, and of leading dispersed professional teams.
Previous experience of working in the NHS is not required for the post, though a commitment to the values of the Trust and wider public sector is essential.
Experience of working within a regulated environment would also be helpful. The successful candidate will need to demonstrate an ability to understand the changing health and care landscape in which we deliver services, developing a strong executive team to provide effective leadership across the organisation whilst building partnerships across the region.
If you feel this could be you, we would love to hear from you, and the role offers an opportunity to lead on improving healthcare for millions of people in a values focused and ambitious organisation.
CEO - Job DescriptionHOW TO APPLY
OUTSTANDING CARE, EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE, EVERY HOUR OF EVERY DAY
East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) is keen to discuss the role Chief Executive Officer with experienced strategic leaders who have the requisite experience, skills and resilience as well as the relationship building and inspirational leadership capabilities to support the required cultural change and organisational and wider system transformation in creating an exemplar ambulance service.
Your background is not important and EEAST welcomes candidates with relevant experience of leading turnaround organisations with cultural challenges through a period of significant change.
It’s an exciting and challenging time for EEAST and its partner organisations. If you would like to play a valuable part in the future of East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust and the six systems in which it operates, we would very much like to hear from you.
By way of application, we require a curriculum vitae and supporting statement that highlights your motivation for applying those aspects of your skills and experience that make you a strong candidate for the post of Chief Executive Officer.
Informal discussion
To confidentially discuss the role in further detail, please contact:
Laurence Wolahan
Hays Executive
T: 07985 443 826
Campaign dates:
Closing date: 24th June 2024
Preliminary interviews (Virtual): W/C 1st July 2024
EEAST interview and stakeholder panels: 16th July 2024
The above dates are subject to change
