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Cutbacks put jobs at risk at ambulance trust's HQ

Katy Prickett
BBC News, Cambridgeshire
Steve Hubbard/BBC Side of a yellow, green and white ambulance. The words "East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust" are written on the side of the ambulance, below the trust's logo.Steve Hubbard/BBC
EEAST says it is supporting staff through "this hugely unsettling time"

Staff at an ambulance trust's headquarters have been warned of redundancies as it tries to cut its budget by at least 5%.

The cutbacks could hit support services workers at the East of England Ambulance Service Trust's (EEAST) headquarters in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire.

Unison union official Glenn Carrington described it as a "worrying time" and said eight departments would be affected, including patient safety, research, education and the communications office.

A spokesperson for EEAST said: "We are supporting our colleagues through this hugely unsettling time."

Google The East of England Ambulance Service Trust HQ in Melbourn. It shows a business park with low-lying buildings and with cars parked on the left. On either side of the road is a trust sign.Google
The cutbacks could affect support services staff at EAAST's Melbourn base

EEAST covers Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

Marika Stephenson, EEAST's deputy CEO, said: "We have been working to identify savings needed to meet our budget for the coming financial year.

"This has been enormously challenging and has led to some very difficult decisions.

"Some of our support services will need to reduce in size to make these savings."

Steve Hubbard/BBC Neill Moloney with short grey hair looking at the camera wearing a dark suit and yellow tie. He is sitting at a wooden desk where there is a keyboard, a laptop and two monitors on stands.Steve Hubbard/BBC
EEAST's chief executive officer Neill Moloney has warned of redundancies

Neill Maloney, EEAST's chief executive officer, wrote to colleagues on 12 March to say the trust had been trying to find savings for its 2025/26 budget.

"This required teams across support services to identify savings of 5%, with a stretch target of 7%," he said.

Posts would have to be reduced, he told them, and "this may lead to redeployment or even redundancy for some people".

Getty Images A yellow ambulance with green patches. The words "Emergency ambulance" are visible in red lettering at the top of the side of the ambulance. The trust's name is in black writing half way down the side. A rear door, with red stripes, is open. The ambulance is parked outside a hospital. Getty Images
EEAST's deputy CEO Marika Stephenson said it had been "enormously challenging" to identify savings and this had "led to some very difficult decisions"

Mr Carrington added: "They've already slashed and burned through the quality and diversity team from eight to three staff, they've already slashed and burned though the 'make ready' team and they've tried to close the [999] call centre in Bedford - it's a worrying time for all of us, it really is."

The "make ready" team restock and clean vehicles, as well as carry out servicing and repairs.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has issued a warning notice to EEAST about multiple failures in several areas, including staffing levels and call wait times.

Figures showed the response time for category one calls - those deemed life-threatening such as cardiac or respiratory arrest - had deteriorated by almost 20% during the year, and only 21% of ambulances on category four calls were arriving within three hours.

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