Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 20 October
October 31, 2023
Every month we take the opportunity to use the Friday Message to highlight latest news or updates about Midland Met. This week I have the pleasure of taking over the reins from Richard Beeken who is on study leave.
Ensuring stakeholders are briefed and engaged with, is imperative to building support and momentum as we move to opening the new hospital in Autumn 2024
I was delighted therefore, to be able to tag along recently with our Chief Operating Officer, Jo Newens and her counterparts across the Black Country for a tour of MMUH. We were joined by Gwen Nutall and Will Roberts from Royal Wolverhampton and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust respectively and Karen Kelly from Dudley Group NHS Trust as part of our continuing stakeholder engagement and awareness programme.
Opening Midland Met impacts on our partner organisations too, both in terms of readiness to deal with changes to the patient activity distribution and mutual support over the move period 2024.
They were hugely impressed with how the building is now looking and how the clinical model alignment is being driven forward as all organisations strive to make improvements in urgent care and beyond. They were firmly committed to working with us to become operationally live in 2024 and ensure a smooth transition for patients across the Black Country system.
I have now taken part in several visits to MMUH over the past few weeks and have been really impressed by the constructive and positive feedback. As part of wider external assurance some of my team and I met with a PAR (Programme Assurance Review) team to explore key lines of enquiry related to areas in workstreams, programme and strategic risks and preparedness for the next stage (GATE4 Readiness for service). So far it has been useful, and I will ensure to share feedback with you and your teams over coming weeks.
Last month we also opened the monthly MMUH Team Talk (last Thursday of each month) to the entire organisation, and I was delighted that over 170 colleagues were able to join. It was also positive that there were lots of varied questions during the session which help us to frame further communications or activities. I would encourage you to join the meeting if you have time as it is a valuable way to find out the latest news and updates about the move to MMUH, it is also a useful signpost to information sources to share with your teams.
As we prepare to open Midland Met next year, we have created a simple graphic ‘Ready, Set , Go; which provides us all with a clear framework for the sequencing of events and activities across the organisation that need to happen to enable a safe opening. You will start to hear about and see ‘Ready, Set, Go ‘ discussed at meetings and presentations in the Trust and I encourage you to use this framework as a guide to the work you and your teams have to undertake over coming months. If you would like a blank version, please contact Claire.Wilson14@nhs.net in the MMUH Programme Office.
We now have several MMUH Ambassadors such as Move Champions, Clinical Change Managers and Induction Leads that are helping spread the word about all things MMUH and importantly are your opportunity to share feedback that can continue to shape the journey to opening.
If you have any great ideas, have concerns or comments or just would like a chat there are lots of ways you can get do this. Please link through the MMUH pages on Connect to see the latest activities. If you would like to contact me directly, please drop me an email on Rachel.barlow2@nhs.net, your support throughout the coming year and beyond is essential .
Finally, thank you to colleagues who wore green on Wednesday to show their support for Freedom to Speak Up #breakingftsubarriers
Speaking Up is an incredibly important part of ensuring that we are always striving for continuous improvement. Our Freedom to Speak Up Guardians are there to support you. Find out more on Connect.
Thank you
Rachel