Women and child health leadership team get hands on at Midland Met
November 11, 2022
Recently the women and child health leadership team headed to Midland Met to enjoy their first site tour together as a leadership team.
The sun was shining bright, and the team were keen to inspect their areas to get a feel for their new home.
As the team made their way around the site, they were impressed with the space where teams will be working and how far advanced the build is in certain areas.
Dr Nick Makwana, Group Director for Women and Child Health, said: “It’s been amazing to see what we’ve been talking about for so long. The space is incredible, and when our colleagues get a chance to see this space, they’ll realise how fantastic it is. The possibilities to enjoy this area will be much welcomed by colleagues – being able to socialise over a coffee in the Winter Garden is something I will look forward to.”
Nick added: “Teams will benefit from working in the big ward areas with natural light. For me, an exciting area is the Winter Garden which doubles up almost as a wellbeing space. It’s a massive area that will house an art gallery. It has lots of open space perfect for events such as dance workshops. Plus, it offers valuable space for our community groups who can use this area too. The green space is something colleagues will enjoy being able to sit out on in the summer months as well.”
Standing on the balcony of the Winter Garden, Jade Payne, Group Director of Operations, remarked: “It’s a beautiful day to visit Midland Met. I can imagine what it will look like when we open in 2024 with a seating area and being able to use this space to meet with colleagues away from work areas will be an asset.
“I’ve seen level eight, which is near completion, and the facilities look incredible for our patients. I think these modern facilities will enable us to give patients the care they deserve in a welcoming, modern hospital. Colleagues will benefit from working in a new hospital too as some of our existing estate is quite outdated.”
Jade added: “We are reinvigorating the MMUH project teams and boards. Colleagues must start getting involved and feed ideas to their senior managers and leaders to get their thoughts out there. We need to understand any concerns and look at care pathways. It’s a big site, and we need to learn how we can do things differently together. Now is the time to start getting involved.”
Reflecting on what she had seen, Louise Wilde, Head of Midwifery, said: “The tour was fantastic. I haven’t been on site since 2018, and it’s changed lots. There are complete rooms, the paint is up on the walls, and the flooring is down in some areas.
“We’ve got a state-of-the-art maternity unit, and I’d like to see all our colleagues get involved in the work we need to do to bring this to life for our area.”
Cheryl Newton, Group Director of Nursing, said: “Seeing our new hospital emerging is quite something. We’ve seen the wards shaping up, the paediatrics area and big open spaces for our children, young people and our gynae patients. It looks great and will be a hospital we can all be proud of.”
If you would like to arrange a site tour for your team, please email mmuh.projectoffice@nhs.net.
To share any ideas with the women and child health leadership team, please email Claire, Group PA at claire.wilson14@nhs.net.