Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 13 April
April 13, 2018
This week saw NHS wide celebrations for staff networks, as well as the final sessions of our Stepping Up programme for current and potential leaders from BME backgrounds. Congratulations to everyone who took part. Like any leadership endeavour the key is what happens next for individuals, and by late May I hope that our coaching and mentoring programmes, available to all Trust employees, are fully developed. In May we launch our latest staff network, focusing peer support and energy on the needs of staff from an eastern European background.
On Wednesday we reached a milestone in the quality improvement journey being undertaken by our community and medical wards. For the first time our feedback data showed that every single discharge of a patient bed to bed was rated as green by the receiving team. Keeping this standard up is our aim. As medication anomalies are the single biggest fall down in our transfers, our hope is that electronic prescribing gives us a chance to improve. In addition, because we have now agreed the so-called HIE link, we will have visibility of patient’s GP records, and their GPs can now see our records. This is a big step forward in care integration.
Our listening into action event for the Consistency of Care programme again attracted over a hundred attendees, and I hope that those who came along felt listened to. The tone of much of the event was really positive, with participants expressing a sense that over the last year they had improved team working, documentation and discharge. Despite all our brilliant recruitment work, staffing is still an issue in half of our wards. The event focused on what we could all do to embed current best practice in areas like discharge medication. There were great ideas for teams to take forward. Meanwhile Fiona Shorney, Chetan Varma and I need to conclude a decision process on how we identify, and then manageto , expected dates of discharge. More of that in the future no doubt!
Part of the programme recognised that on Tuesday nationally we see the launch of the Chief Nurse for England’s campaign to tackle PJ Paralysis. We know that spending nights and days with us reduces independence. Now we need to focus on daytime activities and mobilisation which get patients agile and using ward facilities. Of course if Midland Met is delayed then those facilities may need investment and that is part of a complex negotiation now with government. At the same time a clinically led process is examining both the risks of two site acute working, and the realistic options to change that if we cannot get our single site open in 2020.
Ten days ago you know that we installed a new finance system, which is also the basis for our ordering of stock and non-stock items. At both the Risk Management and Executive Quality Committees real concerns were raised about some elements of the implementation process. The supplier, Oracle, are working with us to find remedies for the handful of issues we are facing. There has been daily communication about how to address and escalate issues. The prize for change is clear – good data and a slicker system – but like all changes we will find local issues and learn how to do better on changing how we work, not simply bemoaning the frustrations we face. The same team in Trinity House have also been overseeing our year end accounts, so thank you for “doubling up”. Whilst we have a £20m residual deficit, we will end the public sector year in surplus – I would guess one of less than three NHS Trusts in the region to do that. We have every opportunity to both invest and save, and we have over £25m of ideas that have been both equality and quality risk assessed.
I am pleased that the new Hallam Restaurant is back up and running after its major refit. You will have seen that there are all sorts of ways to order and collect food now, fitting around your busy schedule. Jane and her team are working hard to make our canteens responsive to your needs, and consistent with our values around the environment and local suppliers. We are gradually improving some of the facilities on our so-called Retained Estate (buildings we will keep when Midland Met opens), and in coming weeks we will open our new Energy Centre to supply the residual city site, as well as firming up plans to create additional car parks, which I know will be widely welcomed.
As we enter the new public sector year, one more thank you from me on behalf of the Board. The safety plan, our finances, and the regulatory success of teams like End of Life care, represent a good year for improvement. I know that the ask gets higher each year, and that many people are tired or frustrated. But the plans being developed by clinical groups do span two years, so frontline teams can work with relative certainty about the future.
#hellomynameis….Toby