24HRS WITH... NORTH EAST AMBULANCE SERVICE CEO; YVONNE ORMSTON

24 hours with... North East Ambulance Service CEO; Yvonne Ormston

Why have you chosen to write about today?

_{Ok here goes. This is the day that I have chosen to blog about
after being asked to by Aimee. Why me? I can’t think people would be
particularly interested in the day in the life of an NHS CEO, especially this one,
but who knows? If there is something useful then hopefully it will inspire
someone, somewhere about something!!}

Good morning!

What time did you wake up?

_{Alarm goes off at 5.45 am}

Why did you wake up at that time?

_{A little earlier than my usual 6.30. Today I’m off to London}

What are the first three things you do after waking up?

1. _{My lovely
husband Colin drives me to the local station whilst my 2 sons, Scott aged 22
and Adam, 16, sleep on oblivious. It’s Scott’s second day of a work placement
which hopefully will lead to a job & his independence. Adam is waiting for
his GCSE results.}

2. _{It’s a 15-minute
journey to Newcastle where I change to get on the 7.05 Flying Scotsman to
London. As usual I have a bag of work to plough through but as ever I find
myself distracted by Twitter. When Captain Kirk said space was the final
frontier he couldn’t have predicted Twitter. I have found myself addicted, with
hours passing and a huge amount of newly discovered knowledge & friends.
Who knew!! Both my sons roll back their eyes when I proudly tell them I have over 800 followers. So uncool for your mother to have more than you.}

3. _{Need to check
where I’m going today! I know I have a seminar in London then need to get to
Leamington Spa for 2 days of the Association of Ambulance CEOs. My PA Gill
pushed a big pack of papers in my hand as I left work last night including
train tickets and hotel reservation. She looks after me really well knowing
that I panic if I’m not sure where I’m supposed to be.}

Do you eat breakfast? If yes, what did you have?

_{An unappealing bowl of natural yogurt with some raspberries &
a few nuts will have to get me through to lunchtime!}

What would be your perfect breakfast?

_{Second day of no/low carb diet & it’s going to be challenging...
It’s my 30th wedding anniversary this year so I’d like to look slimmer.
However, I have been trying to lose the same stone and a half for 20 years, but
of course this time it will be different.}

List five things that you do between 9am and noon.

1. _{First event
is the Paramedic Mental Health and Well-being Stakeholder Collaboration day
which is being held at the Royal College of Psychiatrists. This is a high
priority for me and an area where the ambulance sector needs to do better in
supporting its staff. The facts are quite stark. Research undertaken by Mind
across the emergency services in 2015 found that: 4% of the general population
rated their current mental health as very poor or poor. However, rates were
much higher for ambulance staff at 14.47%. Our staff are much 4 times more
likely to think about suicide. Given the nature of their work these results are
maybe not surprising.}

2. _{I decide to
grab a taxi rather than negotiate the Underground and I’m running late.}

3. _{Not been to
the Royal College of Psychiatrists before. Nice newish building although the
portraits of past presidents on the walls suggests a much longer history.}

4. _{The first
speaker has just finished so I try to creep in but as luck would have it the
only seats left are the ones at the front.}

5.      _{The second
speaker, an emeritus professor, provides an address and makes the point that he
believes there is no other way forward but to change the emotional culture of
the NHS

*   mental health trusts and ambulance Trusts have the highest
sickness absence rates in the NHS

*   Not surprising given the repeated exposure to traumatic
incidents

*   Requires Trust to have positive, open, supportive cultures

He’s absolutely right. The culture in the Ambulance service is rooted in a
military type, macho attitude where the expectation has been you just ‘man up’
and get on with things. I see it as my job & that of the leadership at
North East Ambulance Service to change all that and ensure that we provide
staff with the right support, create the environment where people feel safe to
talk about their mental health and truly feel looked after.

Lots of tips and great ideas to take back and make sure are included in our
staff mental health action plan.}

Did you eat lunch? If yes, what did you eat?

_{Looking forward to lunch only to find it’s a choice of sandwiches
and my low carb diet doesn’t allow any bread. Oh well, I’ll look forward to
dinner tonight. It’s a good chance to meet up with good friends from around the
country and make some new ones.}

List four things that you have done, said, thought, or that have happened between noon and 5pm.

1. _{I leave the
workshop early to get to Marylebone to catch the 3pm train to Leamington Spa. A
change of shoes enables me to walk to the tube and make the change at Baker
Street. I do enjoy visiting London, but I couldn’t live there.}

2. _{Once at
Leamington Spa it’s a quick taxi ride to the hotel and then straight into a 2-hour
discussion group. This time I’m with my Ambulance Trust CEO colleagues from around
England, the devolved nations and Ireland. We have been trying to get together
for some time to share what our individual strategic visions are. Whilst there
is some variation, there is much more commonality and the exciting bit is
learning about all the different good things that are happening. My motto has
always been ‘Pinch with Pride’. If there are good ideas that work, then there’s
no need to reinvent the wheel.}

3. _{The session
ends, a quick shower and change and back down for dinner}

4. _{. It’s my
Chairman’s first meeting of the Ambulance Association so I quickly check and
see he is already in deep conversation with another Chair so leave him to it.}

Do you eat dinner/tea? If yes, at what time?
_{I’m starving!!! I must have been in diet mode when I picked my
menu choices 2 weeks ago. Melon to start, then sea bass, no dessert. It’s only
day 2 so I have to be strong and not eat the bread bun.}

What do you do with your evening (5-8pm)?

_{I find myself sitting next to a new CEO so spend a while comparing
notes. So much in common which is also very therapeutic.

It’s after 10pm and it seems ages since I left Newcastle. As usual it takes me
a while to wind down, so the light doesn’t go off until after 12. The alarm is
set for 6.30am so I can make the first meeting the next day at 8am and do it
all again.}

_{It’s ti}_{ring but
still one of the best jobs in the world.}

https://twitter.com/YvonneOrmston