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Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 27 May

May 27, 2022

This week I want to focus on the duty of care we have for our patients. We have started engaging on our fundamentals of care approach which is a multi-professional plan to ensure we are meeting the basics of delivering good care, consistently well across all our services and locations. When we provide health care services we take on the duty of care for those individuals and families. This duty is a privilege and I know that you all take this duty extremely seriously and strive to do the best you can for every patient.

At times, other factors can influence the standards of care we are able to provide. Throughout the pandemic we have been tested because on occasions we have not been able to provide the high quality services that we all aspire to. This week teams from surgery, emergency care and critical care took part in a major incident simulation that tested our abilities to provide safe care at times of severe demand with high numbers of casualties arriving to our sites.
Whilst the quality of our care may suffer in these moments of extreme pressure, the duty of care for individuals must remain.

That means, making sure you have checked in with your patients and act on any concerns you may have, escalating and getting support if you are worried, and ensuring you have good documentation.
It is these basic checks and safeguards that keep our patients safe and protect you and other colleagues.

As we head towards the double bank holiday week, we know that many of our services in primary care, in the community and in our hospitals will, once again, become more pressured. Throughout these challenging times, let’s all commit to ensuring the duty of care is at the forefront of our minds as we continue to provide the best care we can for our patients and families.

Congratulations to Lisa Raybone, staff nurse in SDU, who was nominated by a patient for the incredible support she provided, always being kind and caring and having time to listen. The nominators noted that Lisa spent time at the beginning of her shift to introduce herself to the new patients. This is an excellent example of an individual who takes her duty of care to heart. Well done, Lisa, and thank you.