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Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 5 July

July 5, 2024

Dear colleagues,

We are now already three months into delivering our annual plan for 2024/25.  Colleagues will hopefully recall that the plan attempted to be far better at prioritising what we will be focusing on this year, rather than trying the usual NHS trick of effectively saying “we’ve got to try and do everything”.  The principle has to be we seek to go “inch wide, mile deep” as opposed to the other way round.

For the avoidance of doubt, our objectives this year are:

  • Improve our management of deteriorating patients
  • Achieve the shortest time necessary for patients in hospital
  • Increase activity delivered in outpatient and theatre sessions (back to 2019/20 levels)
  • Deliver recurrent financial improvement
  • Increase response rates for staff and patient surveys
  • Improve workforce controls/oversight

These are the things that we must prioritise before we do anything else.  You can see that much of this has the dual objective of both improving patient care (UEC and elective) as well as improving our financial sustainability in difficult financial times.

It is the financial improvement work that I would like to address head on in this week’s Friday message.  I know there has been a lot of concern about the number of interim expertise we are currently deploying to help us to develop better plans for delivery of urgent or elective care improvement, and the fact that this seems to contradict the messages we send out about workforce cost control.  I understand this.  However, I want to be clear with you about why we are doing this.

In essence, we are facing clinical leadership and managerial challenges that are greater than most other Trusts in the NHS at the moment.  The MMUH readiness challenge, the financial improvement ask and the relentless push to improve patient safety and access standards, is putting a huge strain on you all.  To expect our existing management teams to deliver all of this, concurrently, without external help, was not something I was prepared to tolerate.  You should never ask others to do something that you couldn’t or wouldn’t, do yourself.  That is why this interim support is in our organisation at present.  However, I know it is financially unsustainable and I know we must develop plans that will allow us to manage everything in a post-MMUH world, ourselves, without such help.  We are doing so.  I want to assure you of that, for the avoidance of doubt.

Please do keep engaging in the work being done by the financial improvement team, they are already progressing some of your ideas, and would love to hear more. Remember you can submit them here.

In other news:

Today is the 76th birthday of the NHS. Since its founding on July 5, 1948, the NHS has been a cornerstone of British society, providing healthcare that is free at the point of use and accessible to all. This revolutionary concept has not only transformed the lives of millions in the United Kingdom but has also served as a beacon of inspiration for healthcare systems worldwide. I, like many of you, feel very lucky to not have only been cared for by the NHS, but to have had such a wonderful career working in it too. Today is not only a day of celebration, but also recognition that this milestone wouldn’t have been achieved without our hardworking and dedicated staff, who, across SWB, improve the lives of our patients and our local community every day. Your unwavering commitment to our health and wellbeing is truly invaluable.

Many of you will have memories of your time working within the NHS, and I wanted to take the time to share some of mine with you – and some of the lessons that I have learned along the way.

  • Being rejected by Marks and Spencer because they knew my heart was in public service – I knew I wanted to join the NHS at that point – life in retail just wasn’t going to cut it for me
  • Having 17 job interviews before getting my first NHS job – if at first you don’t succeed, the NHS will always have an avenue you can pursue, in career terms
  • Being told by a grumpy ENT surgeon that I was an NHS manager and therefore I was doomed to fail –  and that success was only going to be measured by how long I survived in post – I’d like to think that I, and many others, have debunked that theory!
  • My first executive job – at Birmingham Children’s Hospital and the joy of reducing waiting times and generating financial surpluses to invest in patient care, because the NHS actually had enough money to achieve its strategic ambitions then
  • My first CEO job at Wye Valley NHS Trust – and being placed in Special Measures by the CQC on my first day – the tenacity and professional pride demonstrated by that Trust’s staff to get out of special measures, was unforgettable
  • Being appointed as CEO at Walsall Healthcare – and achieving special measures exit there, as we had at Wye Valley, through the same family-like loyalty and esprit de corps
  • Coming to SWB and having the unique privilege of playing a part in opening only the second new hospital development in the NHS for 10 years (beat that!) Which we will also achieve, by having incredible, dedicated, and committed staff.

The themes above centre around people, and that’s because people are at the heart of the NHS – I am incredibly proud to be part of this organisation, surrounded by so many wonderful colleagues – and what a year we have to come  – how exciting is it to think that we will be celebrating NHS 77 in a brand new hospital, which will make a real difference to the people of Sandwell and West Birmingham – I for one can’t wait.

Two more things:

As you may be aware, last month, we invited applications for the roles of chair and vice chair for some of our staff networks. We had over 30 applications which was fantastic to see, so thank you to those who took the time to complete their application. These have been shortlisted and now it’s over to you so please get voting by clicking here.

And finally, the quarter two pulse survey opened this week. I have talked about the importance of our staff surveys many times in my Friday messages, so please do take five minutes of your time to complete it. To save you searching your e-mails, you can simply click here to access the survey.

Have a good weekend.

Richard

P.s come on England!