Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 3 July
July 3, 2020
David Carruthers, Medical Director
Toby is away
A special weekend is ahead as the NHS reaches its 72nd birthday on Sunday. Last year we introduced our smoke free sites and this year is all about thanking our communities for their support to the NHS during the pandemic. Four of the sites across our Trust estate will light up blue between 8pm and 11pm from Sunday and for the rest of the week (City, Leasowes, Rowley and Smethwick). On Sunday at 8pm we would encourage all of you to put a light in your windows to say thank you to all those who have stood with us. New gardens will appear on our sites too thanking people for their support, which we are happy to say we no longer need. This film will go out on our external channels on Sunday so please share it widely.
Last night we held our Annual General Meeting, being, I think, one of the first Trusts to do so this year. Around 80 people joined into the webex with Non-Executive Directors connecting remotely and the executive team and Chairman visible from the Sandwell Education Centre.
Thank you to everyone who took part and sent in questions and comments. I had the opportunity to present on the Trust’s achievements during the past year which has certainly been an extraordinary and unprecedented 12 months – and not just about our response to COVID-19. It is easy to forget the other milestones in our year that included a huge transformation in ways of working with the introduction of Unity; our sites becoming smoke-free; reconfiguration of respiratory services; taking on GP practices; renaming Midland Met coinciding with work restarting on the site, to name but a few.
Our annual report is now published so do take a skim through that. You will see that we have also used this year’s publication to report back on our 2020 vision, the five year strategic plan that we published in 2014 following engagement with our teams, partners and patients. There is so much to be proud of during the year and in the past five years. I hope you feel, as I do, that this Trust is a great organisation to be part of with clear ambitions that go right to the heart of transforming people’s lives for the better.
Next week I will be presenting our quality account to the Sandwell Overview and Scrutiny Committee who have welcomed the opportunity to provide feedback. Although this document is a statutory requirement and often feels quite prescriptive in the elements we need to include it is great to see this account of our quality standards – an honest reflection on what we do well and what we still need to do to continue to improve.
Congratulations to Star of the Week, Eoin Dore, who has been nominated by several people for his work supporting wellbeing for colleagues, particularly our medical workforce. The toll that the coronavirus is having on all of us is becoming very apparent, perhaps more so now than when we were in the peak of the pandemic. People are making good use of our health and wellbeing support and also the Sanctuary that is housed in the Learning Works building opposite Midland Met in Smethwick. My plea to all of you is to make use now of the support that is on offer. You don’t have to feel in a bad place to take advantage of all that is available. Often, just taking some time to reflect and talk can help to stave off more serious ill-health. It is ok to not be ok and it is also ok to get support even if you think are doing well.
Remember that this is your LAST CHANCE to send in a nomination for the Trust’s annual star awards. The nominations will be open until midnight so please spend a few minutes getting those online forms sent in. Many individuals and teams deserve that recognition.