Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 28 July

July 28, 2023

At the Trust Management Committee (TMC) earlier this week we took some time to look at financial recovery and the interventions that can help us deliver our £18.8 million deficit plan.

For those of you not aware, TMC was until recently known as Clinical Leadership Executive. It is a group consisting of your local clinical group leaders and the executive team which meets once a month to make collective decisions about the function of the organisation.

I want to make it clear that we don’t want a reductionist approach to cost savings, this is why we have agreed to drive the Midland Met service transformations harder and capture their financial benefit.

I would also remind you that when team budgets are set, they are an agreed maximum of what you can spend throughout the year.

At TMC we looked at four high impact interventions, one of which focussed on delivering our production plan and ensuring we recover the income associated with elective recovery. In last week’s blog I mentioned the continued challenges presented by industrial action which has unfortunately led to some procedures being postponed.

Closing beds that are not budgeted for is also an area we discussed. As I mentioned last week, we are on track but will rely on front door interventions and community wrap around services to ensure we don’t re-open beds during peak demands. Please engage with services such as virtual wards – it is disappointing that we are not yet using this service to full capacity. I urge you speak to the virtual ward team about how the service could benefit your patients. Also watch this video which gives a simple explanation of what a virtual ward is.

Another important area we discussed is making the best use of our workforce. Our ask to you is simple. Make sure you’re recruiting appropriately using the vacancy control process that has recently been established. We need to get a grip on bank and agency spend and urge you to only use these options when you absolutely need to – and then, only within our establishment. I know we’re experiencing sickness levels over and above that which we’re funded for at the moment, and I recognise that it’s a very real pressure. Please be assured you can seek approval if you feel unable to contain expenditure within a rota period, within your budget. But if we can really focus on reducing our use of agency and managing within the controls we’ve got around agency approval, that would really help.

The senior leadership team at the Trust is now tasked with delivering actions against the high impact interventions to aide our financial recovery. And over the coming weeks and months you will begin to feel the impact of that work within your teams.

And in the meantime, please discuss within your teams if there’s anything we can do to improve grip and control. What could we do better? Where are our processes not quite working as expected? How can we safely maintain quality and still make efficiencies?

You are the ones on the ground and know best how to do your role. Only you know how you can work smarter for our patients and each other. Working smarter does not necessarily mean cutting costs, perhaps you have an idea for an investment that could eliminate waste and improve our financial position.

This should remain an objective for all of us. Speak to your managers about this and feel free to contact me or Dinah McLannahan, Chief Finance Officer with your ideas.