Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 2 February 2018

February 2, 2018

Yesterday’s Trust board meeting had, as you would expect, much to reflect upon. The Board reiterated its commitment to the construction strategy for the Midland Metropolitan Hospital. The question now is how not whether the hospital is concluded. Recognising the disruption and distraction of these events, we confirmed that over the coming three months it is the deployment of our electronic patient record (Unity) that must be uppermost in our plans. Work on the Midland Met will be undertaken by a central corporate team but the success of Unity depends on us all.

Presently, and over coming weeks, over 400 digital champions will be trained in the new system. In the next months you will see dozens of new computers arrive and be installed on our sites alongside additional printers. The so-called Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), which explain how the new system will change how we work, will be completed and signed off during February. This work builds towards a full dress rehearsal in April and the training of all Trust staff in the system during April and May. Unity is an exciting opportunity to improve care but the risks of an IT deployment are all too obvious in our organisation. All of us have a responsibility to ensure that we familiarise ourselves with the product and the changes in our work roles that this deployment necessitates.

At the same time the clinical leadership executive has reiterated the support for our new Aspiring to Excellence PDR system. Many hundreds of line managers have been trained in this approach which seeks to agree objectives for improvement with everyone in our organisation and to assess the potential of all colleagues for further professional development and leadership development. Between now and the middle of March all line managers need to book every employee in our organisation into an appraisal which must take place between 1 April and 30 June.

This is a significant undertaking of administration and time and you will recognise that it takes place at the same time as work on the Unity system. I hope you share my excitement about the new PDR approach which will provide among other benefits an opportunity to target training expenditure, which will continue to grow, at those colleagues who most need that support and development. If you have any concerns about the new system, or have yet to receive the training you need and don’t know how to get it, please contact either your area’s HR manager or Bethan Downing. The only staff group excluded from this programme are trainee doctors employed through Health Education West Midlands.

Look out for Hot Topics next week which is a fantastic opportunity to hear about key developments and changes coming in our organisation and also to give your feedback on proposals and ideas. I know that excitement is building across much of the Trust about the new Purple Point patient feedback system which will go live near our inpatient wards towards the end of the month. You’ll find much more information about that in the next issue of Heartbeat and in the communications bulletin over coming weeks. The opportunity to hear directly from patients, carers, friends and family, and to nip problems and issues in the bud at the right time is what we are trying to achieve in this project, in which there is considerable national interest.  If you want to know more please contact Allison Binns or Kam Dhami in the first instance.

#hellomynameis….Toby