Making Effective Decisions EO Example Statement (250 Words)
At EO, assessors expect you to analyse information, not just collect it: comparing options against policy, cost and risk, then deciding promptly within your remit. Your statement should show judgement on work that matters to a team or service, with a clear rationale and a quantified outcome.
Example statement
SI work as a senior dispenser in a community pharmacy. A supplier fault left us out of stock of a widely prescribed blood-pressure tablet, with nine patients due to collect it and no delivery for five days.
TThe pharmacist asked me to work out how to keep all nine patients supplied safely until the delivery arrived.
AI began by getting a clear picture rather than ringing patients with bad news. I checked each prescription on our system and sorted the nine by tablets remaining: three would run out within two days and were the priority. I identified four realistic options: an emergency supply from our sister branch two miles away; asking surgeries to switch patients to an equivalent tablet held in stock; directing patients to a nearby pharmacy; or part-supplies to stretch our stock. I weighed each against safety and practicality. Switching medication needed prescriber approval, too slow for the urgent three, and sending patients elsewhere risked losing them. Our sister branch could spare a week's supply for six patients, covering the urgent three with a buffer. I proposed combining a branch transfer with part-supplies for the rest, and the pharmacist agreed. I phoned all nine patients personally, booked the urgent three in first, arranged the transfer, and set a reminder to reorder earlier.
RNo patient missed a single dose, all nine were supplied within 48 hours, and every one stayed with our pharmacy. The pharmacist adopted my usage report to flag low stock two weeks earlier.
Use this as a model, not a script. This is an original example written for this site. Adapt the structure to your own experience — copying it word for word risks plagiarism and will not reflect your evidence.
Why this scores well
- Prioritises by need (sorting nine patients by tablets remaining) and identifies four realistic options before deciding.
- Weighs patient safety and practical constraints, involves the pharmacist appropriately, and escalates the clinical element rather than overstepping.
- Result is quantified and patient-centred (no missed doses, all supplied within 48 hours), with a process improvement adopted.
What EO level requires
| Grade | What assessors expect |
|---|---|
| AO | At AO, making effective decisions means using the information in front of you, following guidance and policy, and making sound day-to-day decisions within your own role, escalating anything outside it. |
| EO ← this page | At EO, making effective decisions means gathering and interpreting information from several sources, weighing options within policies and procedures, and making timely decisions on your own caseload or area of work. |
| HEO | At HEO, making effective decisions means analysing information from a range of sources, identifying the real options, weighing evidence, cost and risk, and making sound judgements on issues affecting your team or service. |
Common mistakes at this level
- Ignoring the rules entirely: a bold decision that broke policy without explanation reads as recklessness at EO.
- Giving a result that describes the task being finished, not the difference your decision actually made.
- Writing the action as a diary of events instead of a chain of reasoning leading to a choice.
Frequently asked questions
Two or three is realistic and reads well. Name each option briefly, give the reason you accepted or rejected it, and make clear why the chosen one won. More than three options in 250 words becomes a list with no depth. The quality of your comparison matters more than the count.
You can still use it if you spotted the problem, corrected course and can show what you learned. Assessors respect honest examples where someone reviewed their decision against evidence and adjusted. Do not use an example that ended badly with no recovery, and never invent a happy ending for one.
Most departments ask for 250 words per behaviour at EO, though some adverts ask for 500, so always check. Keep the situation to two sentences and spend around 60% of the words on what you did: the information you sought, the options you weighed, the choice and your reasoning.
Next step
Get the free EO statement template pack — the same STAR structure used in this example.
Download the template pack