Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 12 July
July 12, 2024
Dear colleagues,
I hope that you all managed to take the time to get to a polling station on Thursday last week to vote in the general election. Voting is an often forgotten privilege which I’ve always personally felt we should use, whatever our political views and the strength of them.
You will be well aware that a landslide victory for labour has seen Sir Keir Starmer appointed as Prime Minister, bringing with him a whole new cabinet – including a new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in Wes Streeting.
The appointment of a new Health Secretary, let alone a brand-new government, always brings a period of change and potential new directions for the NHS, and I am hoping that Labour stays true to their manifesto, of building an NHS fit for the future, and we do start to see some positive changes.
Some of the things they have promised include:
• Cutting NHS waiting times, by offering 40,000 extra appointments each week – the 18 weeks from referral to treatment was achieved with the last Labour government and they will want to get back to 18 week waits again for 90-95% of patients by the end of their first term.
• Healthcare closer to home – our place-based partnerships in both Sandwell and Ladywood and Perry Barr will be central to this and we have already made a great start in delivering urgent care “disruption” through our fantastic community and primary care teams – our ED attendances are 10% lower than in 2019 and our admissions to hospital of people over the age of 65 is declining – other Trusts are not achieving this .
• Improving mental health – something that does have an impact on our emergency portals every day of the week.
• Reducing health inequalities – one that I know will be particularly close to the hearts of many of you, as we serve some of the most deprived areas of the country.
Things won’t change overnight, we aren’t going to be able to stop our financial improvement programme – we must still deliver against our deficit, but I am expectant that the NHS will see brighter days in the not-so-distant future.
Onto more local things.
The Care Quality Commission has made several visits to our maternity unit at City Hospital, and they have raised some concerns with the Trust. Last week we received a Section 29a Warning Notice letter of concern, which outlines six key areas for improvement. These include:
• Equipment checks not always evidenced as being completed
• No resuscitaire within triage
• A lack of privacy and dignity in triage
• Staffing and skill mix not always in line with guidance
• Induction of labour guidance did not meet national guidance and lack of risk assessment
• Patient risk in relation to Birmingham Symptom specific Obstetric Triage system (BSOTS)
We know that the environment within maternity is getting tired, and the move to Midland Met, where we have state of the art facilities can’t come soon enough for both our patients and our staff, however, some of these things are completely in our gift to solve. Providing patients with privacy and dignity is at the heart of everything we do – we can, and simply must do better.
A Section 29a letter means that we have 10 days to respond to the CQC and provide evidence of actions we are taking to improve. It is likely that the CQC will pay more visits to maternity, and I would ask that if you have any level of concern about this that you discuss it with your line managers and other local leaders, or even to our FTSU guardians if you wish to raise safety concerns anonymously.
We are now 12 days into the Q2 pulse survey, and although we haven’t been reporting as much as we have previously, due to the Midland Met no fly zone – I am delighted to hear that our response rate is already at 15%. I hope I am right in thinking that you are all now seeing the benefits of completing the staff surveys, as you are seeing that tangible improvements, such as the creation of our people engagement teams, are happening. If you haven’t yet completed, please do so here by the time it closes on 31 July.
Staying with the theme of people – there are just a couple of days left to vote for your new chairs and vice-chairs of our staff networks – the vote will close at 5pm on Monday and you can place your votes here. I am hoping to bring you the news of those important roles in my message next week.
Finally, some news on a couple of appointments and departures.
I am very pleased to announce that following a competitive interview process, Dr Subash Sivasubramaniam has successfully been appointed to the position of Group Director Surgical Services and will be taking up the post on 12 August. I am sure you will wish to join me in congratulating him on his successful appointment. At the same time, the executive team wish to extend their thanks for the dedicated way, Mr Siten Roy has led the group, his hard work and leadership of the group has been appreciated by all.
Daren Fradgley, Chief Integration Officer will be moving on to an exciting new role at the end of July. I am sure you will join me in congratulating Daren on his move to become Group Chief Integration Officer for Lincolnshire. Daren will be accountable for Community and Out of Hospital Services, IT, Digital, Strategy, Planning and Improvement across the Trusts in the Group and his first task will be to align services between the Trusts.
I would like to thank Daren for his commitment, professionalism and wish him all the very best for his next chapter. The process of appointing a rapid interim successor is already underway.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Richard
p.s – Come on England – it just might be coming home!