Trust ‘exited’ 170 staff in three years due to poor behaviour

East of England Ambulance Trust chief executive officer Tom Abell gave the figure while speaking publicly about his team’s efforts to get a grip on the organisation’s long-standing cultural problems.

Mr Abell, who is leaving the trust next month to lead Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board, told a session at the NHS Confed Expo conference that the trust’s leadership knew suspending a large number of staff would create challenges in providing services.

But he said it was the only way to ensure the right cultural standards were met and he did not want to “bottle” the decision to tackle this issue.

Mr Abell, who became CEO in 2021, said: “The decision we had to make was do we suspend [the staff] and recognise the fact that’s potentially going to have a significant impact in terms of our ability to deliver services, or do we bottle it?

“And [so] we suspended and dismissed [the staff in question]. Staff told me after that, ‘we never thought the organisation would ever do that’.

“We’ve tried to be consistent. We’ve exited, probably over 170 people from the trust, since I started, for issues around culture and behaviour. It’s not just about being fluffy and engaging, it’s around actually taking practical symbolic action.”

The trust faces ongoing problems, however: HSJ revealed last week that its internal staff surveys had found the proportion reporting being bullied or harassed increase 3 per cent points in 2023, after a steeper rise since 2020, although in the national NHS Staff Survey it has seen improvement.

One of the trust’s most high-profile behaviour problems came in 2022 when it was reported that staff had been sharing “inappropriate messages” in social media groups. It was reported this led to around 30 staff being suspended.

EEAST added in a statement: “The progress we have made to improve our organisation’s culture has been acknowledged by the Care Quality Commission and the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and we continue working to tackle racism, harassment and inappropriate behaviour to make East of England Ambulance Service Trust a safe and fair place to work for all our people.”

The trust was previously placed in special measures in September 2020 after a CQC inspection found concerns about culture, leadership, and governance – but it exited special measures in January 2024.