Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 8 December
December 8, 2023
From Rachel Barlow – Richard is on leave
As we enter the last month of 2023, I have taken some time to reflect on what has been achieved over the past year on the journey to opening Midland Met (MMUH).
As Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) for the MMUH Programme Company I could not be prouder of what you have all achieved during the past year to ensure that we keep on our trajectory of opening MMUH in autumn 2024.
With under a year to go to before we open the MMUH doors to patients, I would like to share with you some of the highlights of the year that you and your teams have worked hard to drive forward and, in some cases, achieve well before the target dates we had set ourselves.
These highlight the expanse of the work which is being undertaken daily to ensure not only we hit our move period of autumn 2024 but do it in safe and measured approach.
Many of these have required colleagues to step up and volunteer to take on roles and responsibilities to get ready for Midland Met. This includes move champions who are now readily engaged in preparing detailed plans with our appointed move partner Healthcare Relocations to prepare for a safe move.
Other highlights include working hard to achieve our trajectory for bed right-sizing to ensure we fit into the new hospital, we have been working closely with system partners to ensure appropriate pathways are in place for our patients, we have dedicated business change managers who working with clinical teams are ensuring we are operationally ready to move and another major milestone included MMUH being connected to the SWB main IT infrastructure.
Every aspect of the work that we have been undertaking has been done against a backdrop, for many, of working hard to maintain business as usual in the here and now, whilst also planning new clinical pathways, preparing our workforce and local communities for a future work in which MMUH is open to provide acute care in wider health and social care system.
I have witnessed over the last few weeks in particular much momentum and pride on site as technical commissioning has reached some major milestones. Four generators are now switched on and the building is heated with hot and cold running water flowing. I would like to thank our colleagues across different disciplines and organisations such as Balfour Beatty and the New Hospital Programme for helping us to achieve this progress.
In addition, during November we continued to hear view from local stakeholders with the second stage of our near neighbours’ meetings taking place. Both were well attended, and we were privileged to meet residents living within a mile of the new hospital. Responding to feedback from previous events about improving transport and connectivity locally, we also invited leads from the local police, Sandwell Council, Birmingham City Council and Transport for West Midlands. This provided a very productive listening and engagement opportunity which will help inform future transport plans and experiences.
As we enter the New Year, we should not underestimate the amount of work that is needed to get us over the line. The first period of 2024 will focus on finalising the building to get us ready for building handover from Balfour Beatty in spring 2024, continuing to ensure our people are ready for the activation and induction period and taking our biggest group of colleagues ( who will be moving base to MMUH) through a management of change process.
As acting CEO for the next couple of weeks, as Richard is on leave, one of my main tasks will be working with colleagues to plan for the upcoming non-consultant doctor industrial action which has been announced from 7am on 20 December to 7am on the 23 December and from 7am on 3 January to 7am on 9 January 2024. The turbulence and impact that these periods of action have on protecting our patients’ services cannot be underestimated and I want to thank you in advance for your continued hard work and support to ensure care for our patients.
Please listen out for more information over coming days.
Best wishes
Rachel