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Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 30 December

December 30, 2022

Jo Newens, Chief Operating Officer (Richard Beeken is away)

This is the final message of 2022, in a week that has seen us declare an internal critical incident due to the immense pressure on our services.

Thank you all for coming together and supporting each other to deliver the care our patients require in very challenging circumstances.

The safe discharges that we have managed to complete over the past few days have really made a huge impact on capacity and how we are managing the flow of our patients in hospital and into the community. Please continue to support patients with timely discharges – weigh up the pros and cons of our patients remaining in hospital and ensure you include patients and families in these discussions with a clear focus on what matters to them. We have excellent community teams who can support patients in their own home and in temporary community accommodation and these teams have full availability throughout the holiday period. How to access the out of hospital support is outlined in the communications bulletins should you need it.

The pressure this week has been exacerbated by an increase in flu and COVID cases. We introduced masks in clinical areas last week to help reduce transmission. We must remind you of the importance of following the correct infection and prevention control guidance. Wash your hands regularly, wear your masks, isolate when required and ensure your patients are screened in line with the guidelines.

You can help even further by ensuring you are vaccinated against flu and COVID to protect not just yourselves but loved ones and our patients too. We urge you to encourage your family and friends to get vaccinated. We are seeing the serious effects of flu with many patients becoming gravely ill with devastating consequences for some.

As we look to 2023, we need to recognise that the situation will remain challenging not just for our Trust and our Place colleagues but for the NHS as a whole. The NHS priorities and operational planning guidance 2023/24 which was published on the 23rd December sets out the national direction of travel for the NHS as a whole. It recognises the excellent work that has taken place this year including eradicating two year waits for elective care and delivering record numbers of urgent cancer checks. It also acknowledges the continuing complexity and pressure we face and outlines three priority tasks:

  • Recover our core services and productivity
  • As we recover, make progress in delivering the key ambitions in the Long Term Plan
  • Continue transforming the NHS for the future.

These are important tasks for the NHS, and as ever we will be working collaboratively with organisations in Birmingham and Solihull and the Black Country and West Birmingham Integrated Care systems to deliver the best outcomes for our local population.

Thank you for your continued efforts, let’s look forward to a successful year ahead. Happy 2023!