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Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 16 December

December 16, 2022

This will be my last Friday Message of the year.  On Wednesday and Thursday this week, I had the pleasure of working with our fantastic volunteers, handing out small tokens of the Trust’s appreciation to our staff for another year’s hard work and professionalism, in the form of chocolates for all our teams, wards, services and departments. I wonder how many toffee quality streets will be left in the tubs after this week? Quite a few, in my experience.

I always get a real energy from visiting our clinical and support teams. I never get to do it enough; however, I am expecting that with some tweaks I’ve made to my team and working pattern, I can do far more of it in the new year.  It does have to be said, however, I was greeted far more warmly this week than usual, and I think you can all work out why.

When I do get out and about, I am reminded of the first thing I was told about our Trust when I started – that the Trust is a very friendly and welcoming organisation. This is absolutely true. The smiles, unprompted greetings and positivity I see from our teams, even in the most challenging of circumstances, does give me a boost and reminds me of what a privilege it is to lead this organisation. Thank you for making me feel so welcome, so often.

The warmth, positivity and welcoming nature of our Trust needs to be harnessed in the new year, as we start to deliver key projects and changes which will help us to deliver our strategic objectives (Patients, People, Population). We undoubtedly face huge challenges – a deprived and diverse population struggling in the worst cost of living crisis for decades; staffing shortages and exhaustion in many quarters; overwhelming demand for urgent care services; no new money and elective waiting time recovery on some scale. However, if we harness that warmth and positivity I see when I meet you all, we can tackle those issues by:

  • Getting the fundamentals of care right for our patients, more frequently. It is not enough to be friendly. We must get the communication, the co-production of care and the clinical assessments right, too. Better care also costs less.
  • Improving the working lives of our people by investing in better leadership, improving their physical environment and digital experience and by offering more professional development.
  • Getting things right, with other partner agencies, for our population. We have the power, as a healthcare provider, to do so much more than treat the sick. Every contact counts and we can, all of us, influence and improve people’s life chances and health outcomes.
  • Changing our clinical pathways and practice, so the Midland Met can be a success. 2024 is not far away. Every day not changing and modernising our practice, is a day lost as we get closer to providing services in that magnificent building.

I hope everyone reading this gets two things out of this Friday Message. Firstly, that we are reminded, even at our lowest ebb, that our institution is a wonderful place to work. Secondly, that you can ALL play a part in delivering better, for our patients, people and population, next year.

Have a great Christmas. Here’s to a better 2023.

Richard