Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 23 October
October 23, 2020
We are continuing to see Covid-19 cases in hospital rise in this current phase of the pandemic with a jump in recent days and no reduction in presentation of non-Covid patients. All our clinical teams have worked hard to return towards a normal level of service for our patients and we have been seeing improvement in waiting times for surgical procedures and investigations. We are continuing to work with neighbouring Trusts in the Black Country to see how we can improve services, as well as continuing with activity in the independent sector.
Appropriate admission avoidance, early discharge, community support and monitoring are all important aspects of our care. ICU capacity has been well-managed with support from partners but critical care beds remain a challenge across the system.
Our reservists are also stepping up to support critical care services. This is essential as we are likely to need to expand this in coming days. If you are a reservist, thank you. You may be called upon shortly and please be assured that induction and support for you in a new role or location will be in place. We have learned how to do this better since the first surge in April.
Thank you to everyone who is working hard to ensure that we safely care for our patients, creating additional surge capacity where needed. We are often having to make quick decisions to expand in line with our plans which means at times people moving to work in unfamiliar wards to support the current needs of the patients.
Please see my latest message on the current Covid-19 position for all colleagues here.
Understanding how teams and individuals feel about their role and their work within our Trust is vital and we have recently received the results from the latest quarterly weConnect survey that asked one quarter of our organisation a number of questions relating to morale, influence and advocacy. I’m really pleased that our overall engagement score has gone up slightly to 3.96 out of 5) and we aspire to reach a sore of 4.0 so we are very close to achieving that goal. The directorates included in this quarterly survey were admitted care, nursing services, imaging, community medicine, system transformation, paediatrics and ophthalmology. Thank you to everyone who completed a survey. It is clear that many of you feel very positively about your role and how the Trust has supported you during the pandemic. People have reported positively about the quality of care that is available here and whether you would recommend this organisation to family and friends.
There are however some concerning comments and some frustrations that colleagues have expressed. As you know, responses to the survey are anonymous and therefore we can’t track comments to certain departments or directorates, but we can see what we can do as a Trust about things that don’t seem right. Some comments reflected a lack of equal opportunity for colleagues from all backgrounds which is something I am keen to see addressed. The inclusion day this week was a good way for people to raise issues and ideas. It was also a good way to learn about the experiences of people from different backgrounds, whose stories were powerful and thought-provoking. Do get in touch with our staff network chairs, with Frieza Mahmood, Nick Bellis or Estelle Hickman if you want to get involved.
The national staff survey is also out now, so please take the time to fill yours in. There are still prizes available for those who complete one in our prize draw. This is the first time since the pandemic that every organisation in the NHS has canvassed its employees so the results will be really valuable and will help us benchmark against other similar Trusts. We need to share the best of what we do here with others, and also adapt and adopt best practice from other organisations.
One key way of sharing learning is with our QIHD poster competition and we have a record number of entries this year with 97 poster submissions! In a couple of weeks the posters will be published on Connect as well as on the digital displays in Hallam Restaurant, City main spine and Rowley main reception. Colleagues will have the opportunity to vote on your chosen winners before the awards ceremony in early December. Our Covid-19 response features strongly in this year’s entries and it is clear that we have quickly learned and adapted practise throughout this pandemic either to improve patient treatment, experience or the service we deliver.
Congratulations to our star of the week Hardeep Bains from Lyndon 2. Hardeep was nominated by a colleague for the work she does to ensure that patients are discharged safely which often means a lot of co-ordination with relatives, care providers and social services. Her work enables patients to be in the right place for their healthcare needs and helps ensure flow through the hospital. She was described as being “the glue that holds Lyndon 2 together”. Well done, Hardeep.
The clocks change this weekend, so don’t get caught out! Our Unity upgrade earlier in the year should mean no downtime for Unity but other systems are affected for the hour so make sure you know if you need to revert to business continuity overnight. All of the details are published in the communications bulletin.
Thank you as ever for your commitment to our patients, their families and each other at this time.
David Carruthers
Acting Chief Executive