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Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 30 April

April 30, 2021

A colleague I haven’t yet met in person, took time out of their day to contact me about email etiquette.  The content of the discussion we had has inspired me to raise this in this week’s Friday Message.

We have all had concerns or frustrations with email over the last 20 or so years, haven’t we?  The frustrations with the people who treat it as an instant messaging service and express irritation with you because you haven’t replied within hours, sometimes minutes.  The colleagues who insist on copying in everyone in the original thread even when relaying the most banal of confirmatory responses.  The colleagues who forward emails containing sensitive or personal identifiable information without thought.  The passive aggression in text, which most wouldn’t dare to express in person.

The problem is, because we have a new technological enemy in our sights, in the form of WebEx or MS Teams meetings, we have forgotten just how much damage poor email etiquette can cause.

Compared to everything else we are handling at the moment this may seem trivial, but it is a subtly important undercurrent of our working lives which we need to give more thought and consideration to.  Maybe we could initiate a bit of a campaign on this just to jog people’s thoughts and appeal to their inner professionalism. Maybe a poster that will display on the home screen just to remind people of good e-mail etiquette.

Some examples of what we can improve are;

  • CC function – do we really need to copy all those people in?  The psychological damage caused by persisting in copying in three layers of management above us, for example, mustn’t be underestimated
  • Staff working very late/very early and sending e-mails then putting pressure on other staff when they have then not completed tasks.  We all have a right to a home life and not everyone works the same hours or pattern of working day.  I never want to hear the dreaded line – “I sent you an email at 10pm last night – haven’t you read it yet?” again!
  • Reply all – don’t do it automatically.  Think about who needs to see what
  • Forward function without checking content – confidentiality of staff and/or patients is crucial.  Information governance is everyone’s concern

Thank you for taking the time to read this week’s message.  I hope it resonates with you and has made you think.

Huge thanks to everyone who has contributed to the set up and running of the vaccine centre at Sandwell, housed in the conference room of the education centre. The hub closed its doors this week having completed a staggering 18000 doses of the vaccine. The hub was set up almost overnight during the Christmas period and many colleagues had to rapidly get trained and put processes in place to ensure safe and effective care. Thank you to everyone for their help – a great team effort. It will reopen for a couple of days in June to complete second doses for those who received their first vaccine in the last few days.

I wrote last week about the tremendous service shown by our Trust Chair, Richard Samuda who steps down today. And I am delighted to welcome Sir David Nicholson to the Trust as the new Chairman. Sir David is greatly looking forward to meeting colleagues and getting to know the Trust and our communities.

Star of the week, this week is Nurse Associate Nicola Coley who was nominated by Senior Sister, Danielle Graham, for her efforts to arrange a complex discharge for a patient at end of life. I wrote previously in this blog about the importance of a good death and it is just this approach by Nicola that should be commended. Nicola worked hard during a busy shift to keep the family updated at all times, fully involve them in the arrangements and ensure that the patient’s wishes were met. Thank you, Nicola.

Thank you to everyone who took part in the minute’s silence to remember international workers on Wednesday, particularly this year as we recognise those who have contributed to the NHS response to the pandemic. Our NHS would not exist without the commitment of those from overseas and you are truly part of our #SWBfamily.

Best wishes

Richard