Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 5 February
February 5, 2021
This is my last message as Acting Chief Executive and I am really pleased to be handing over the reins to Richard Beeken, who will join us from Monday on a temporary secondment arrangement. Richard is “on loan” from Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust and will be here until Toby is able to fully resume his duties and, along with you all, I continue to wish Toby well in his recovery.
During the last eight months while I have stepping in, the Trust has been subject to huge changes and pressures. We saw Covid cases come down in the summer, lockdown restrictions eased and our recovery plans progressing well. The Trust’s models of care in terms of routine and outpatient appointments had changed significantly – part of a long-term arrangement given what we learned during the initial wave of the pandemic. As numbers began to increase in the Autumn, so too did our concerns and this latest wave has been truly extreme in terms of the numbers of patients with COVID who are acutely unwell, the rate of increase of rates in the community and the variant strains. All of you, our amazing staff, have been responding to this on top of dealing with your own psychological response to wave one, your emotional and physical exhaustion, the impact on your own families and ongoing anxiety about how we move forwards over the next few weeks, months and years ahead.
On a personal level I have been humbled and proud of the way you have worked both within your teams and also as individuals in the support you have provided to each other and your patients. Your resilience to all the challenges that are thrown your way is outstanding as is your ability to respond to change, some of which happens at very short notice due to operational pressures. Even the consequences of extreme weather conditions are dealt with effectively! I started at SWB over 20 years ago and these were some of the attributes of the organisation and individuals who worked here that attracted me to my original post, so I am delighted that throughout all the current challenges that the import core attributes of the organisation remain. A new hospital will help, but it is the people who work here that make the real difference to the quality of our services. Please don’t ever forget your individual contribution to that. I want to thank you all for the support you have shown to the organisation and our patients at this very challenging time. The increase in our senior leadership capacity with Richard starting next week will be a welcome addition to the Trust to maintain and develop our focus on our longer term strategic goals.
Very tragically, we have lost two members of staff over the past two weeks and our thoughts remain with their family, friends and colleagues through their grief. You will have seen the tributes to Surangi and Ameta in our regular bulletins and my thanks to those who have shared their thoughts in these fitting tributes.
It is a sombre period for our Trust as we near 1000 people who have lost their lives with COVID in our care since the start of the pandemic. I don’t need to remind you that each of these patients is loved and dearly missed and not just a number. Many of you have been with these patients as they have passed away. Their last days and hours have not always been the end of life circumstances that we or they would choose with restrictions on visiting, both in hospital and at home, and requirements of PPE to keep relatives safe. Your care for our patients and their loved ones continues to be exemplary despite your own personal challenges. We are considering how best we commemorate those many lives lost and also recognise your own sacrifices over the past 12 months in some kind of permanent memorial when the time is right to do this.
Notwithstanding the more sober tone of this message, there is certainly light at the end of the tunnel that is coming ever closer. The vaccination programme locally and nationally is progressing well, community cases are coming down and hospital COVID admissions are beginning to reduce. We won’t be out of the woods quickly, and the journey will continue to be bumpy, but the signs are looking good for a brighter year ahead.
I will be returning to my Medical Director role from Monday and continuing to support our leadership response to the pandemic and our recovery arrangements. I look forward to continuing to serve the Trust and the people of Sandwell and West Birmingham, in delivering the care that you want to provide and the services that our communities deserve.