North East Ambulance Service Employee Reviews

Be prepared to work hard mentally, not know your colleagues well and be crapped on by management if you don’t do 100% on an audit, even if this means not asking ethnicity when there’s not time But you’re saving lives

Was this review helpful?

Challenging environment

Health Advisor (Former Employee) - Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear - 21 April 2023

A busy and challenging environment, but with supportive management. Overall, I would say that my experience was positive and I would recommend to anyone who is up for a challenge.The role was quite demanding, with a high level of responsibility. This made for a fast-paced and often stressful work environment, but it also meant that I was able to develop my skills quickly and it was rewarding.The management team was incredibly supportive and understanding of the challenges that we faced. They were always available to listen to our concerns and provide guidance when needed. Saying that, people were managed which is where I feel some of these negative comments come from. At times it was difficult to maintain a healthy work-life balance however I was fully aware of the shift patterns and expectations to work bank holidays, Christmas etc before starting as is everyone else.Overall, I would say that my experience was a positive one. I feel that I was able to develop my skills and take on new challenges during my time there. If you're looking for a fast-paced and challenging work environment with a supportive team, this could be a great fit for you.

Pros

Challenging, rewarding

Cons

shifts

Was this review helpful?

Insights into North East Ambulance Service

Based on 19 survey responses

What people like

Feeling of personal appreciation
Clear sense of purpose
Ability to learn new things

Areas for improvement

Energising work tasks
Overall satisfaction
Fair pay for job

Difficult but rewarding role

Emergency Call Handler (Current Employee) - Newburn - 7 February 2023

A very complex role and not for the light-hearted. The shifts are flexible...for NEAS! It is a primarily out-of-hours service, so post-GP closing time (5pm onwards) it gets busy. You know this going in, but the Workforce Management team has declined in support since the initial main scheduler left, who was really supportive. Since then it has gone downhill, with no room to manoeuvre for shift changes etc.Think twice before committing to this role, it's hard and needs a dedicated personality. You're helping people and saving lives, so don't go in with the idea it's a usual call centre role. It's not!

Pros

Good pay and a rewarding role.

Cons

Workforce Management support has disappeared. Very cliquey culture, embedded with those who think they run the place due to their longer service than you.

Was this review helpful?

Avoid

999 Call Handler (Current Employee) - Newcastle upon Tyne - 18 November 2022

This role offers bad management, awful shifts and no support. Your colleagues are amazing, and that is the only good point. There is a bullying culture from management and team leaders. You will work very hard, for no recognition.

Pros

None

Cons

No work/life balance, no support and mentally draining

Was this review helpful?

Good place but some management was hit and miss

ambulance care assistant (Former Employee) - North East - 4 August 2022

Enjoyed my time hear just some managers don't do their job. Other than that I couldn't fault the place, full of friendly people and get some great story's.

Cons

Organisation

Was this review helpful?

Rate your recent company

Share your experience to help others

111 Service

Health Advisor (Former Employee) - Newcastle upon Tyne - 19 September 2021

I worked for NEAS as part of the call centre side taking 111 calls (with the eventual progression to 999) for almost a year. It was the worst job I've ever had. The work is monotonous and repetitive and you will feel like a robot. They monitor how long you are in calls, after the call, and even how long you are in the toilet. You feel stressed after the call as you could be getting a call from the managers any minute to ask if you're okay and when you say you're not they don't particularly care and tell you to take calls asap. There's also monthly meetings about stats and you have to set goals for yourself which ends up being the same thing every month (i.e. reduce call taking time, reduce comfort breaks). I worked so hard to reduce all my times as I wanted to progress to 999. Some people were put forward for the course but when I asked my manager they simply said it's done automatically after a year. Made working hard feel a bit pointless.

Pros

Unsocial hour payments are really good (an extra £3/hr nights and sat and an extra £7/hr for sun)

Cons

Bad management, monotonous

Was this review helpful?

Satisfying but limited support and cliquey

Emergency Operations Centre Team Leader (Current Employee) - HQ - 28 May 2021

Some amazingly talented staff who work here but a senior management team that is completely removed from staff welfare and treat call handlers like a number as opposed to skilled individuals.Run an emergency service like a call centre and are spineless when it comes to managing troublesome staff but focus on completely irrelevant projects and standards.Team Leaders entrusted to do absolutely nothing of note and progression is pre-ordained for those who are yes men and are willing not to challenge the status quo.

Pros

Good leave entitlement, decent pay

Cons

Long shifts, ever increasing workload

Was this review helpful?

Good company. Shift patterns not so good

Band 6 Senior Clinical Advisor (Current Employee) - Newcastle upon Tyne - 6 September 2020

Training for CAS Nurse is long and shift patterns are not very family friendly. The training tutors are very knowledgeable and provide lots of encouragement.

Was this review helpful?

Best people, best job!

Emergency care assistant - Clinical Care Assistant. North East (Former Employee) - Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear - 7 July 2020

I had a brilliant time with NEAS, I enjoyed my job, my immediate managers were helpful and supportive. I would still be there but a relocation back to the north west meant I had to give up my job .. Don't be fooled .. it is a demanding job but also very rewarding.

Pros

It's mega

Cons

Advancement for lower clinical skill is slow due to trust funding and university course criteria.

Was this review helpful?

Fastpaced

Emergency Call Handler (Current Employee) - Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear - 18 March 2020

Emergency call handling can be very stressful however the job satisfaction can be very rewarding. You gain a lot of medical knowledge and there is always opportunities to learn more. Management are very approachable and will try to make adjustments for a better work life balance.

Pros

Flexible hours

Cons

long hours

Was this review helpful?

Good job if you can handle the stress and shifts

HEALTH ADVISOR (Former Employee) - Newburn - 18 November 2019

Everybody is very supportive at NEAS. My team leader was amazing. If you ask for help it is given. Best thing you can do is be honest and open if you have stuff going on at home. I left due to the stress. I just was not emotionally resilient enough to deal with it. Plus I'm a single parent, childcare to fit round shifts is hard to come by. Wasn't the job for me.

Was this review helpful?

Great job

Health Advisor (Current Employee) - Hebburn, Tyne and Wear - 26 October 2019

Great people to work with. Good job satisfaction. Can deal with very hard calls. Ongoing support and training. NHS benefits, home electronics and car scheme (salary sacrifice) NHS discount. Long hours but more days off

Was this review helpful?

Awful, pressured, shifts nightmare, focus on call time not care

Health Advisor and Ambulance Service Call Handler (Former Employee) - Newcastle upon Tyne - 27 September 2019

Would not recommend this place as a call handler was an awful role. Holidays needed to be booked so far in advance and by a deadline then you would be told if you were successful you basically bid for them. You couldn't just pick throughout year they gave you specific times you could book. Only once key holidays booked e.g. 1 week and 2 weeks. Could you then book random weekends for family gatherings weddings etc so meant you had to risk important dates and hope you could swap with someone which was hard.

Pros

I'm unsure there is any

Cons

Basically everything

Was this review helpful?

Very productive place to work

ESR Administrator Temporary (Former Employee) - Newburn - 1 September 2019

Great place to work, colleagues and management professional, supportive and exceptionally friendly - enables management to get the best out of their staff, more Trusts need to treat their staff in this way, making it a productive place to work

Was this review helpful?

Most depressing job I’ve ever had

Call Handler (Former Employee) - Hebburn, Tyne and Wear - 18 April 2019

From day 1 you are under pressure because if you don’t pass the training you will not have a job. The initial training is 4 weeks long and at this point most people have already left their previous job. Once you’re through all the training you will have a mentor for the first couple of weeks while you're taking calls. Once they sign you off you are on your own and I mean on your own! Every shift is like starting a new job. You have to sit at any desk that is available and you’re next to different people all the time. You’ll strike up a good rapport with one of your colleagues and then probably never see them again. This was something I struggled with because I could never get settled. The length of the shifts are a struggle bearing in mind you are sitting down more or less chained to a headset. The maximum is 12 hours with an hour break broken into smaller breaks throughout the day and the time drags. It’s also difficult to have a life as you usually work a weekend and evenings as that’s when they are busiest. Bank holidays and Xmas/new year are extremely busy - sometimes over 100 callers on the queue. Most calls are lack of common sense. One person called 999 because his gp was closed and he was going to run out of medication and got aggressive when told that was not the purpose of 999. Very little help available for mental health patients who call regularly. You are under pressure to pass call audits, reach targets and not screw up and kill any one by withholding proper care. I really enjoyed the training but I absolutely hated the job itself and hated -

Pros

Pay isn’t bad

Cons

No work/life balance, lots of pressure, long shifts short breaks

Was this review helpful?

Stressful job

Emergency / Urgent Call Handler (Former Employee) - Hebburn, Tyne and Wear - 5 February 2019

Long hours / Hard 12 hour shifts Can be satisfying job, but can be emotionally draining. At times it can feel like this is overlooked by the organisation.

Was this review helpful?

High stress but well worth it.

DUAL TRAINED HEALTH ADVISOR (Current Employee) - Newburn - 2 August 2018

The role is very highly stressful with understandavly emotive callers however it is also very rewarding. Shift patterns could be better. Room for progression into a few different pathways.

Pros

Good management, room for progression

Cons

Poor hours

Was this review helpful?

Emergency service worker

Paramedic (Current Employee) - Newcastle Upon Tyne United Kingdom - 11 July 2018

long shifts , little support from managers, poor work life balance. Days can be challenging requiring the ability to think and act quickly. However ultimately satisfying when good outcomes are achieved

Was this review helpful?

Pays well

Call Operator (Current Employee) - Hebburn, Tyne and Wear - 23 June 2018

The money is good Can be very rewarding The people you work with are amazing and i will remain friends with these forever! They are the reason you will stay for 5 years.

Cons

Long hours and shifts aren't fantastic

Was this review helpful?

Friendly Environment

Administration Assistant (Former Employee) - Newcastle upon Tyne - 5 March 2018

I got to build up more of my skills, particularly with administration. I spent the majority of my time creating documents, updating their website and many other admin related jobs.

Pros

Flexible hours

Cons

No one to talk to most the time

Was this review helpful?

Very busy & rewarding - nice to help within your community

Emergency Care Assistant (Current Employee) - All over the North East - 12 January 2018

No 2 days are the same! You meet all members of society. You go home after each shift knowing that you have made a difference & provided the best care