Ambulance trust offers senior staff up to £80,000 to quit despite claims of racism
A troubled ambulance fund is offering senior staff up to £80,000 to quit – despite claims of racism.
The East of England Ambulance Service Trust (EEAST) has rolled out a ‘mutually agreed redundancy scheme’ which will only be available for a two week period in April.
It invites senior employees to apply for payouts of up to £80,000 to step down from their position – but it is only being made available to staff at or above band 8a salary scale, which currently has a starting scale salary of £48,526.
It comes after a damning report published last month revealed shocking allegations of behavior within the trust, including staff imitating monkey noises and a manager’s husband coloring himself black and dressing up as Mr T’ at a staff party.
One person claimed that during Ramadan, people “joked in front of groups of colleagues about food in front of me.”
Employees who successfully apply for the severance scheme are then paid half a month’s salary for each year they have worked in the NHS – with a payout of up to £80,000.
Troubled The East of England Ambulance Service Trust is offering senior staff up to £80,000 to quit despite claims of racism. They have rolled out a ‘mutually agreed severance scheme’, available over a two week period in April (photo Tom Abell, Chief Executive of EEAST)
McKenzie LLP, a specialist equity, diversity and inclusion consultancy, was hired to conduct a report on the EEAST, which contacted 120 Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) employees. There were 58 employees who responded.
One person said that ‘EEAST suffers from its own ‘racism bias’ phenomenon, which I personally experienced at least 20 times in the trust in 20 months’, ITV reported.
Several responses explained how BME staff were asked to “translate for patients” who spoke “gobbledygook” despite not actually speaking the language themselves.
One said, “Assumptions are made based on the color of your skin. I was asked to translate for someone who speaks Arabic. The reason for the request was that ”I look like one of them”.
At a costume party at work, some employees said they were complaining because a manager’s husband “dressed up like Mr. T” and “colored himself black.”
Another respondent described another run-in: ‘When my team ordered a takeaway, they didn’t order one for me because they told me they ordered a curry and I was probably fed up with them because I have to eat them all the time. ‘
A trust official, who declined to be named, said: “This appears to be a taxpayer’s way of footing the bill for the managers whose behavior is likely to have led to the appalling culture here.
‘Emergency workers are burned out but are not given the opportunity to apply for this because they are not in band 8a and above.’
Tom Abell, CEO of EEAST, said: ‘We made the decision to launch this voluntary program – which is often used in the NHS – because we recognize that the trust has gone through a period of cultural change which will continue over the next few years . year.
“Since I joined the Trust in August 2021, we have made significant progress in a number of areas recognized by our regulators and we hope this arrangement will contribute to the further improvements we are working towards.”
Tom Abell, Chief Executive of EEAST, told MailOnline: ‘We have launched this standard voluntary NHS program in recognition of the impact it has had on colleagues over the past few years.
“We also agreed that the culture of the Trust needs to change, and the period of culture change will continue for years to come.
‘This voluntary scheme allows specific groups of our staff to apply for an agreed package, the suitability of which will be assessed by a panel, and has the potential to create jobs for others in the Trust.
“Since I joined the Trust in August 2021, we have made significant progress in a number of areas recognized by our regulators and we hope this arrangement will contribute to the further improvements we are working towards.”
On 16 March, the EEAST signed UNISON’s new anti-racism charter – the first NHS Trust to do so.
It aims to address racism in the public sector and “binds organizations and their leaders into a set of commitments” designed to stop “all forms of conscious or unconscious racial prejudice.”
This would be done through ‘unconscious bias’ training for all staff and specific ‘robust’ equality training for management.
Part of this charter states that organizations must have a “clear and visible anti-racism program” and that they must also report on pay disparities based on ethnicity and monitor disciplinary and grievance procedures.