Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 14 July

July 14, 2023

Our board meeting this week highlighted the scale of work required to meet our key priorities for the remainder of this financial year.

To highlight some of the challenges ahead:

• Reduce length of stay and increase the use of our out of hospital services such as Urgent Community Response, which has met the national target of 70 per cent of all patients seen two hours for the third consecutive month, with 85 per cent of all patients remaining in their usual place of residence.
• Close beds that are not budgeted for – this is essential for us to safely move into Midland Met. The right interventions at the front door along with our community wrap around services will ensure we are able to keep unfunded beds closed even during peak demands.
• Continue to influence the development of Place in Ladywood and Perry Barr to ensure comparable services as to those in Sandwell.
• Tackle our long wait lists – by March 2024, no one must wait more than 65 weeks for an elective procedure.
• Reduce our spend on Bank and agency.
• Safely open Midland Met in 2024 – there is now a real focus on readiness to ensure we have a safe and successful move for our patients, colleagues and local population.
• Get a grip on our cost improvement programme to deliver our £18.8m deficit plan.

As you know our annual plan sets out 14 objectives that need to be delivered by April 2024, six of which we have prioritised. This huge agenda underlines the need for us to have a clear focus on this. You can hear more about how you can contribute to the annual plan by attending my ‘town hall’ sessions.

This is all in the backdrop of mitigating the risks caused by industrial action, which is now underway for our non-consultant doctors until 7am on 18 July. This action is the longest ever taken by non-consultant colleagues and for the first time includes a weekend, a time we traditionally rely on the services of these colleagues even more. And soon after, on 20 July, there will be a 48-hour action by consultant colleagues.

Our tried and tested command and control structures are in place, and I would once again like to thank you for stepping in to ensure we continue to provide safe care to our patients, while supporting colleagues who have chosen to take strike action.

The Board understands that each period of industrial action is harder for colleagues, mentally and physically – we have seen this in the sickness rates which are starting to creep up. Your wellbeing is important to us, so please speak up if you need help. I, along with other senior colleagues will be conducting wellbeing checks during the strike days so do tell us how we can make things easier for you.

You can also speak to your line manager or confidentially approach colleagues in our occupational health and wellbeing team for help and support.

Have a good week.