Case Study: North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust improves staff engagement with NHS Employers

Restructuring management to enhance engagement

North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust partnered with NHS Employers to tackle low staff engagement across a large, geographically dispersed, 24/7 workforce. The trust faced challenges around shift patterns, mobile teams, limited manager access, rising demand, and communication barriers, all of which made it harder for staff to feel supported and involved.

NHS Employers supported NEAS as it reshaped management and communications, including introducing clinical care managers on matching shift patterns, strengthening senior leadership coverage, reviewing mission, vision and values with staff input, launching a culture survey, and tailoring engagement approaches to different workforce groups. The results were strong: the NHS Staff Survey score improved from 3.08 in 2014 to 3.39 in 2015, staff reporting that managers take a positive interest in wellbeing rose from 40% to 70%, and staff willing to recommend the trust as a place to work increased from 23% in 2014 to 83% in 2017.

North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust