One of my favourite things to do on any given day of the week is to get up from my desk, away from the dreaded screen and out into the Trust to see people.
It sounds so simple, doesn’t it, but the impact of meeting with patients, their families and colleagues across all services and settings cannot be underestimated when your days are largely filled with digital meetings and problems to be solved.
I’m sure it’s the opposite of what was intended with online communications platforms – but you really do start to feel disconnected, even when the real world is only a few metres away.
For this reason, I am always keen to say yes to people who include me on an invite, pop in and say hello whenever an opportunity arises and engage in more planned corporate initiatives such as the Employee of the Month award.
I have spoken before about the importance of recognising colleagues and the power which undoubtedly lies in saying ‘thank you’ when things go well, but in the last few months the Employee of the Month nominations have really blown me away – and December’s was an absolute corker.
Salima Akuji, a Staff Nurse on ward B2 at Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital, was nominated by her colleagues for some fantastic work – but the first thing that really struck me when I bobbed along for the presentation was how they had all gathered together to support her.
Sometimes when I go to things like this it can be a very small and simple affair, still genuine and poignant for the winner I think, but maybe just me and them, stopping for a minute and having a chat about their nomination and what they have done to receive it.
But not ward B2 it seems. Oh no. This was an event and I could tell it was going to be something special when I walked in and the team were there, waiting, with the whiff of anticipation in the air.
Salima, a registered nurse on what is the Trust’s medical Stroke Unit, is a shining example of an Employee of the Month and I do hope will go forward as a real contender for annual Employee of the Year at the 2024 Star Awards too.
In the last two years she has developed a comprehensive but practical guide to help educate and advise colleagues on how best to remove medical devices after death for Muslim patients. To produce the guide she collaborated with a wide range of people inclusive of Ghusl volunteers, our own Imam Fazlurrehman Hassan and Imam’s in the East Lancashire community, as well as various Muslim Networks, other Trusts, Bereavement Teams, Equality Diversity and Inclusion specialists and, of course, families themselves.
This is an incredible personal achievement and I was so impressed by Salima’s determination and commitment to safe, personal and effective care but, moreover, to making sure it applies to everyone equally.
But she didn’t stop there. Salima also recognised that some colleagues cannot always get away from a clinical setting and leave their patients or team to attend the prayer room. Somehow – and this is no mean feat either – she found funding to introduce prayer boxes which include everything you need to access a quiet area and pray.
The nomination added: “Salima is innovative and passionate and thrives on improving staff and patient experiences. She has improved care for patients and their loved ones and also helped colleagues feel respected and included. Salima’s ‘can do’ attitude and perseverance has seen both projects through.”
This is an incredible testimony for anyone to hear and whilst I know Salima was overwhelmed to be recognised in this way, I am sure she was very proud of herself too.
I don’t normally share so much information on the nominations, I know, and I don’t do so today to diminish previous winners in any way. It was just the whole atmosphere within the team and on the ward was infectious. They clearly encourage ideas and innovation – as well as each other – to thrive. That they were so thrilled for Salima was lovely. They were taking photographs and uploading them to social media whilst I was there – sharing their obvious and rightly-placed pride for all to see.
It was emotional and brilliant and I wish I could do this type of thing every day. Not least because being among the team at B2 was an absolute tonic and recharged my batteries completely. Part of my reason for focusing on it is also that I really want Employee of the Month to become something we shout more about in 2024 and, please, whether you’re a patient or a colleague, you must let us know about positive experiences you have with people in the Trust.
Whilst I know we are not perfect – and it’s impossible to get everything right across all services and settings all of the time – I do believe that this experience is reflective of the general essence of ELHT. I am always impressed and assured when I meet people across all services and settings, from all walks of life, that we’re getting it right and we’re doing our best.
Myself and colleagues on the Trust Board can and do meet with other senior leaders from across the NHS nationally, from the North West region or, indeed, from the wider health and social care system in Lancashire and South Cumbria to talk strategy and tactics, finance, innovation, transformation and creating better outcomes for local people.
But it is the teams like the B2s and others I have mentioned in recent weeks including ELCAS, ED, Breast Care, Head and Neck, Pharmacy, corporate colleagues of all professions and the ever present Estates and Facilities team – who are everywhere doing everything, always.
On Wednesday I know the Chair, Shazad Sarwar, also joined our ‘SPEC’ panels which recognise commitment within our framework of safe, personal and effective care – and was also blown away by their focus on improvement and culture. Thank you to everyone in the gynae/breast ward, on ward C6 and the Wilson Hey Theatre team – the exact feedback I received was that you were all ‘awesome’.
I’ll stop the shout outs here for now for fear of offending those not namechecked – but know I am genuinely referring to every team both in our hospitals and across the community, who are seeing, living and breathing the real challenges and taking it upon themselves to make improvements that matter more than anything else, on the ground, with and for people who need our help.
This is the power of an inclusive, positive culture that values and rewards quality care, patient safety and experience, improvement and the personal approach. I want to say how grateful I am that this is who we are as a team. Thank you to everyone who is an active part in it. It is a contribution beyond measure.
I wish I had 10,000 Employee of the Month awards to present – not least because then I could spend everyday meeting and thanking all colleagues who are doing amazing things for our patients.
In the meantime, I said last week to watch out for an update on the ‘c’ word that is Christmas and here it comes!
Our incomparable and brilliant hospital charity ELHT&Me is now in the full throes of its festive fund raising and I said I’d give them a plug for the range of gifts in their shop, which is near the entrance of Royal Blackburn and open every day including weekends until Christmas, thanks to our amazing charity volunteers. Thank you to the team and to everyone who helps raise money which, in turn, means we can support initiatives for patients and colleagues that we simply couldn’t afford otherwise.
That includes the 50 people who ran the Blackburn 10k on Sunday for us, Rishton Golf Club which has announced ELHT&Me as their chosen charity for 2024 and those who took part in the very first ‘Rock and Roll Bingo’ in Accrington on Monday night.
Look out also for our ‘Take a Tag’ appeal which can be found on festive trees around the Trust and other outlets with details of the presents we’d like to give to patients in hospital over Christmas. If you have already bought and delivered one – thank you – that is hugely appreciated.
ELHT&Me is also giving away ‘towers of treats’ and supermarket vouchers to teams and individuals across the Trust in the next few weeks as one way of thanking colleagues. Some of the prizes will be drawn randomly from our master staff list and others are being selected from nominations people make for each other as part of the ‘Christmas Cracker’ campaign. We’ve had 400 already – which is brilliant.
I look forward to hearing who has won and why as we get nearer to the big day and, hopefully, I will get to see as many colleagues as I can before then too.
Take care,
Martin