Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 12 April
April 12, 2019
Since the start of April around 300 more people are attending our emergency departments each week than in prior months. The number being admitted has risen around 45 per site through medicine to figures exceeding 60. At Sandwell we have had our own beds closed to norovirus, and of course have seen proliferation in the local community too. Staff sickness here is up, with exhaustion, but also with D&V. There is very little that can be said other than thank you.
These rises are being seen in other hospitals too, and we are working through with partners the cause and the remedy. In the meantime, we have kept open some beds we had planned to close. Team leaders are working hard on rotas and rosters to make sure we have cover in place. In any situation like this, teamwork and communication will be vital. I hope that you feel supported by local leaders like Helen Mallard and Beth Hughes, as well as by directors. Lots of Shout Outs are rightly coming in about individuals, and I wanted to pick out Dr Jack Beardsall from Sandwell ED and Dr Mo Khan at City, as folk whose work has been praised to me by patients and by peers for its calmness, compassion and leadership. In Heartbeat at month end, we launch our new Star of the Week prize for anyone in our Trust, replacing the prior compassion in care award, and I am sure that we will see many nominations from the acute pathway.
Over recent days we have been finalising the first cohort of weconnect pioneer teams. I have been part of that selection process and it is great to hear and to see the enthusiasm for improvement and for learning among team ranging from nursery nursing, through estates, pharmacy operations and City ED. The pioneer process will kick off in earnest in May as we look to support around a dozen teams with engagement, involvement and resilience. Good luck to all – and look for faces, photos and stories in May’s Heartbeat.
The Trust has had a run of stories latterly in the Express and Star. I wrote last week about the current consultation process on CCG boundaries, and the potential for that to have an adverse effect on the Midland Met approval timing. You will have seen publicity for an incident involving one of the cranes as they were being disassembled this week. I am pleased to confirm no injuries, but I know Balfour will look to learn from what happened and remedy any damage to the site. There was some publicity for our car park changes, announced here on 29 March, with a focus on the temporary changes that mean some colleagues based in the Elizabeth suite and in Trinity parking at New Square from this summer for a year or just over. I do understand the frustrations and concerns expressed, but the position remains as decided after wide discussion. Of course if lots of volunteers come forward opting into the free car park there, we can reconsider the compulsion. Thank you to those colleagues who have seized, though, this change as an opportunity for fitness gain and other endeavours. On 24 April, we have our latest Stepping into Spring wellness event. Look out for details in communications bulletin.
Thursday 18 April is our next QIHD. By now you will have selected your accreditation bid. The learning topic this time will be Unity, and in particular the start of our competency self-assessments, and the launch of our 28 day challenge programme. I won’t mar the surprise element, but I do want to highlight the reality of the countdown to Unity. I know we have hundreds of people working really hard to get us ready, over a hundred digital champions trained and ready, and our super users to train in June and July. Unity will not solve all of our IT challenges. Unity will only work with decent WiFi and good community connections. But as much as anything else Unity depends on us, on you. The whole executive was trained in the product last week by Pat Rodriquez, and whilst none of us qualify yet as super users, it was exciting to see some the improvements that the product can underpin if we work together to optimise its use.
I have attached a Brexit bulletin, albeit I am slightly lost as to the best way to summarise events. The IT statistics are easier to outline. Over 4,500 IT incidents were closed in March by those who reported them, which is by far our highest ever close rate. We have cut by a third the long wait incidents. Half of all queries are settled now on first contact and want that to grow to about 80 per cent over time. Recruitment is ongoing to support our first line helpdesk in IT going seven day this summer. I am well aware that everything is not yet perfect. IT teams are out finalising WiFi, and out too configuring printers and PCs. We have delayed the N3 replacement for a month while we complete readiness work. But there is little question, I think, that we are seeing improvement. Our 70 or so IT colleagues deserve our thanks for their endurance and commitment.
This week’s Brexit Bulletin: SWB Brexit Bulletin – 12 April 2019
Attached are this weeks IT stats:IT Performance Stats 12 April 2019
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