Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 21 June
June 21, 2024
Dear colleagues,
The next couple of Friday messages will be from me, as I am acting chief executive whilst Richard is enjoying some well-earned annual leave.
Having returned on Monday from two weeks of leave myself and feeling recharged after some rest and relaxation, I just wanted to start on the importance of making sure you take your annual leave.
The NHS remains a busy environment, not only for colleagues who are often at the forefront of critical and intense work environments, but this year we are busy preparing to move into our new hospital. Taking regular breaks is essential for your personal wellbeing and professional efficacy.
Working in the NHS is inherently demanding. You frequently encounter high-stress situations, long hours, and there are some emotionally taxing scenarios. Annual leave provides a necessary respite, allowing you to step away from the pressures of work, recharge your mental batteries, and return with a refreshed mindset.
It is vitally important – so please do ensure that you are using your annual leave days well and make time for ‘you’ too. Our staff are our most important asset.
I did really enjoy my two weeks off, but what an exciting week to come back to. This week has been our ‘mock move week’ – an opportunity to test out our proposed processes and timings for safely moving our patients from Sandwell and City Hospitals to Midland Met in October and November this year.
Alongside our move partner, Health Care Relocations (HCR), we tested a patient journey for an adult ward at both City and Sandwell, an adult critical care patient, a paediatric patient, a high dependency paediatric patient, as well as a maternity patient and a neonatal baby.
Each journey was tested from a bed space on an existing ward or department, to a bed space within Midland Met.
If you have heard me speak about Midland Met before, you will know that I often refer to the programme as being a team sport – and we have seen teamwork in abundance throughout this week. Our clinical and non-clinical teams have been working side by side, engaging with external partners, including West Midlands Ambulance Service, ACCOTS (for adult critical care patient transfers) and KIDS (for paediatric high dependency patient transfers).
The mock move test went really well and provided learning opportunities to take away and work with HCR and our move champions to look at how we can make any necessary changes and improvements before the real deal later this year.
Thank you to everyone who took part – especially to our ‘patients!’ Click here to see a short video if you want to see how we got on.
On Wednesday of this week Anna Lock one of our Deputy Chief Medical Officers, facilitated the first joint Primary and Secondary Care Interface collaboration event with Sandwell and West Birmingham based clinical colleagues.
As an integrated care organisation, collaboration across different service and disciplines is important and enables opportunities to learn, work more effectively and innovate. With this in mind and a desire to further improve the relationships, communication, and joint working between primary and secondary care, through better understanding of each other’s roles, remits, and challenges, the collaboration event explored how, regardless of where we work, that we ensure that we put the patients care at the centre of all we do.
The eagerness in the room to work in partnership and eliminate barriers of siloed working, improve flow across the ‘boundary’ and grasp the opportunities we have locally was evident.
Going forward Anna will co-chair, along with a primary care colleague, a Primary and Secondary Care Interface Group to build on this enthusiasm to work to nurture our professional relationships and re-design current models.
I am really looking forward to seeing how this work progresses – dates of future meetings will be publicised shortly and colleagues will be welcome to participate and share ideas. For more information/suggestions please contact: anna.lock@nhs.net
This week has also seen our Clinical Group reviews. These happen every month and are an opportunity for Executive Directors and the Clinical Group leadership teams to come together to review the delivery of this year’s priorities inclusive of the shortest time necessary in hospital, the numbers of patients we treat, deteriorating patients, staff survey, workforce oversight and finance.
As you will know in March this year, People Engagement Teams were set up to bring together colleagues from different backgrounds and roles, whose goal is to improve the working lives of staff within their local area – using the feedback that you give in the staff surveys as a starting point. I was delighted to see and hear how these are coming to life across the organisation with regards to staff engagement – and the motivation and enthusiasm that is accompanying it. There are some brilliant local recognition initiatives happening.
If you are interested in being part of a People Engagement Team, or in finding out more about the work they have planned in your group or directorate, please speak to your line manager.
Finally this week saw the Trust celebrate National Estates and Facilities Day. A huge thank you to all our staff who work behind the scenes to keep our hospitals services running. Their commitment to maintaining safe and efficient environment is crucial to patient care. Be sure to check out this video thanking colleagues for their hard work and dedication to SWB.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Rachel