Our Values

Our values guide how we relate to each other, and inform the work we do and how we do it.

We take the initiative

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Reflect


We make time to review our work to identify opportunities, risks, and process improvements.

Clarify


We ask supportive and enquiring questions to gain clarity and use research data to guide our decisions.

Act


We are agile, responsive, and considerate of others as we act on behalf of the team with the confidence to succeed.

We lead the way

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Evolve


We set ambitious goals to grow, develop, modernise, and excel.

Contribute


We participate in creative problem solving to spark innovation and produce results.

Adapt


We recognise our strengths and challenges and welcome feedback to increase awareness, flexibility, and resilience.

We achieve our best together

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Respect


We listen and ask questions to help champion and respectfully challenge ideas, opinions, and behaviours.

Engage


We connect with and include others to build trust, understanding and clear communication.

Compassion


We care about people and their progress and believe everyone has something unique to contribute.

Our Diversity Commitment

Our purpose at Devon Air Ambulance is to end preventable death, disability or suffering through the delivery of exemplary time-critical care.
We are dispatched to help the people that need us the most. It doesn’t matter who you are, if we can help, we will help.

We think our workforce should reflect the people we serve and our community in Devon. We know that having a truly diverse and inclusive workforce is not as easy as just saying it.


We have ensured that diversity and inclusion is established in a charter, that we undertake blind recruitment processes, and that our staff are trained in diversity and inclusion awareness. This has made a positive difference, but we are not there yet. 

We know that building teams of individuals from all walks of life, backgrounds and cultures give us the best platform to learn, grow and share ideas. Inclusion is not only the right thing to do, but also the smart thing to do. We recognise that diversifying our workforce is both necessary and valuable and will ultimately ensure our organisation is fit to serve our patients and community.

So, what’s next?

We are open with where we are right now and through local engagement, working with local groups and reaching out to the communities we serve we will find ways to improve the balance of our team. We are working on our EDI roadmap and are tackling barriers that may exist, to help Devon Air Ambulance be an inclusive and supportive employer.

Future Focused

Our Strategic Plan underpins our direction and helps us to work together to create the best outcomes for our patients.


The Plan is a ‘live’ document so we can respond to the changing environment in which we work. The enablers in the plan reflect our broader aims and how we want to show up in the community.


The enablers support our operational objectives, which are to end preventable death, disability or suffering from critical illness or injury by transforming time critical-care through prevention, treatment and recovery.


Each of our strategic enablers is supported by an associated committee. The People Talent and Culture committee meets quarterly to discuss topics of importance in relation to our staff and our culture. This committee has an essential role within the organisation and is made up of cross-department representatives, the CEO and some of our Board of Trustees.

People Focused

We believe our people are the key to our continued success. We seek to recruit, train, and retain the best talent, and we follow industry best practice guidelines to ensure we attract people with the knowledge, skills, and values to match our requirements and our culture. We support our managers with an in-house development programme which has been shortlisted for a CIPD award. This programme has been designed to enable our managers to be the best they can be.

Engaging Our Staff

In the last couple of years, we have witnessed a major shift in working practices across the globe and many organisations have embraced remote or hybrid working models.


We regularly review our ways of working by consulting with our staff and we recently initiated a listening project called Taking Stock, which was led by our CEO.


We use the feedback from this project, our annual Best Companies survey, and other consulting projects throughout the year. This information helps us to map the future of our work and shape our culture. It also helped us to refresh our organisational values along with input from a cross section of departments.

Wellbeing

Maintaining good health and wellbeing is central to keeping our people happy and to support them in their work. Health and wellbeing support includes:

Our staff wellbeing channel features various resources and signposts relating to mental health and wellbeing, as well as contact details for our Pastoral Care Volunteers. 

We have a number of Wellbeing Ambassadors who are trained in different areas of wellbeing such as Mental Health First Aid who are there to provide support to colleagues and help raise awareness of health and wellbeing.

Red Poppy is a free confidential counselling service available to colleagues who may be facing difficulty. The service is for employees who may be experiencing the effects of work-related stress or personal stress and trauma. 

Colleagues across the organisation have joined to collate ideas and plan for events and training to improve staff wellbeing, to which anyone can contribute. 

Surfwell therapy is a method of intervention that uses surfing to promote psychological, physical and psychosocial wellbeing. It's there to support colleagues who are feeling confused, overwhelmed and unable to switch off, who might be seeking alternative support.


Martin Bell
Director of People, Talent and Culture

People are energised and motivated by doing great work that makes a difference. We actively support and encourage a culture that enables self-directed learning alongside collaboration.

Rob, Safety Manager

DAA is such a people focused organisation.  From my first day I have felt welcomed and part of one big team. I have been impressed by the culture of DAA too; we strive to improve performance across what is a very diverse organisation and seek to improve our people in that process.

Mike, Finance Team

I enjoy the culture of the people working towards the same goal. Having the trust to seek and implement improvements, and the support and feedback when I need it.

Samantha, Retail Team

I talk about Devon Air Ambulance with pride that I am part of this fantastic charity and team. If anyone asked me if I enjoyed working for the charity, I would respond with “everyday”.

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