4 - 6 minute read
I have had some feedback this week from a colleague who said they enjoyed the blog but wanted to raise with me that it was becoming long and a bit ‘wordy’. I am always conscious of this, but there is so much going on the national stage and across the organisation, it’s tough to keep it short.
There are some key points I want to cover this week before I mention, as ever, some individuals who are doing great things. I won’t apologise for including these but the irony that having so many is contributing to a long blog isn’t lost on me. I remain proud and grateful to work with such a great team.
The first thing to mention is the new NHS league tables which were published on Tuesday as part of the Government’s commitment to be more open and transparent. There has been a lot of commentary on the information used to create the rankings and whether it really offers patients true insight into the performance of their local hospital or not, but important to reference openly that ELHT was ranked 89 from a total of 134 comparable Trusts.
This says to me that there is plenty more for us to do to improve and transform, but I believe this position provides some assurance that we’re getting a lot of things right for patients and their families too. We remain recognised for our high-quality and safe services, as well as strong performance on operational delivery, providing effective services and personalised patient care.
If evidence of this is required, there is plenty – both qualitive and quantitative across the Trust. As just one example, the Trust Board met on Wednesday for both a public and private session, with a myriad of information and assurance provided about our performance.
As always, it began with a patient story which also demonstrated a range of things that can never be fully captured in a league table – and that is human behaviour, compassion and empathy. This was writ large throughout the item, where a patient’s son gave a touching and emotional review of the care his mum and his family received at the end of her life.
In particular he paid tribute to the ward team and the specialist bereavement team led by Jo Gaskell. I was struck by the positive experience he described at such a difficult time for them and thought he summed it up perfectly when he concluded: “My mum left this world with a smile on her face and Jo and the team made it bearable for us as a family. It was peaceful in the end and that’s how it should be. Jo, I love you to bits and I will never forget how you stepped up for us.”
This is a moment where I genuinely don’t need to add anything further because those sentiments say it all. Thanks so much to everyone involved for everything you did and continue to do. I am always blown away by the kindness and compassion that runs through ELHT. Safe, personal and effective care at its best.
As part of Board, I always provide an update for colleagues which includes headlines and developments about the NHS nationally, regionally including the work of the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Provider Collaborative Board (PCB) and from the Trust itself.
It is testament to the amount going on that it was written a couple of weeks ago to allow it time to work through the governance processes but was already some way out of date.
What it does describe in glorious technicolour in the Trust section, however, is a huge amount of hard work and good practice across all services and settings, as well as individual triumphs and positive news. If you want to read it in full the Board papers can be found on our website here and the CEO Report is one of the first items on the agenda.
Again, this demonstrates a whole range of activity in addition to an insight into the culture of the Trust which perhaps cannot be captured in hard data alone. I hope it gives further assurance and confidence to local communities that not only are our services safe, but they’re high quality and delivered by people who care too.
Colleagues from the Board also joined a monthly Improvement Assurance Group (IAG) meeting this week, which largely tracks progress on reducing our spending and returning the Trust’s finances back into the black. It’s worth reminding everyone that this requires a non-negotiable saving of £60.8 million before the end of March next year.
It’s a tough meeting as you might expect and we’re asked to give detailed updates on progress as well as assurances that we will deliver the financial plan in place. For month four of the financial year, which takes us to the end of July, I was pleased to report some positive information including:
- A month-on-month reduction in our ‘run rate’, which is the money we spend day to day
- A reduction in pay costs – which is critical as 65 per cent of our costs are salaries
- A huge 45 per cent reduction in the number of temporary shifts we take up through agencies
- Near delivery of our waste reduction plan (WRP) for the month
- Strengthening of the financial processes for ordering goods and services, including daily panels to approve requisitions
I know a huge amount of work remains focused on this and I want to say thank you to everyone who has supported progress. It was clear IAG colleagues also recognised the phenomenal efforts from everyone to reduce our costs whilst protecting the services we provide to patients. However, we are still not achieving our financial plan so there is more to do but through the architecture and processes we’ve put in place many opportunities have been identified.
Lastly, before I get onto a couple of individual mentions, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) team aligned to ELHT made an informal visit to the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital on Monday and Tuesday to take a closer look at how patients with mental health issues are supported, particularly when in crisis when they come into A&E. They also met with colleagues in surgical teams.
I know these visits are often a source of natural stress and anxiety for colleagues and so I want to say a huge thank you to everyone involved. I understand the team were incredibly impressed by the culture they saw, that people expressed how proud they were to be part of the Trust and were happy to share their work and views openly, including what they were doing to improve.
Finally, I said I would get onto some shout outs for people. The first one comes after a patient called the Trust to say she had been discharged from C2 at Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital last week. She said she wanted to express her thanks for the exemplary care that she experienced from every member of the team. Her exact words were “I can’t quite get over how exceptional my care was.”
I know the Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer Sharon Gilligan called in on C2 afterwards to share the feedback and say a personal thank you, but I thought I’d include it here for anyone that wasn’t there at the time. It’s amazing feedback and you should be rightly proud.
I also want to mention Carol Hughes who has worked for ELHT for 50 years as a staff nurse, sister, specialist nurse and matron this week, after starting her training in 1975 and working in ophthalmology since qualifying in 1978. With such a huge achievement I am not surprised her colleagues asked for a mention. They said: “She is a fantastic advocate for her patients and the service, with a passion for ophthalmology that is as strong today as it's always been. Carol is a wonderful role model and teacher who is always willing to share her knowledge and experience.”
Congratulations Carol on reaching this wonderful milestone. It’s clear you epitomise the values we hold so dear at ELHT. I am so proud and grateful for everything you have done and continue to do for colleagues and patients.
Mindful now I am into ‘long blog’ territory, but it would be remiss of me not to mention two things to close.
The first is that the national NHS Staff Survey begins for 2025 on Monday and I want to ask all colleagues to fill it in, please. I know it comes around so quickly each year and there are so many other calls on your time, but it’s so important that we hear your views.
The invitation to complete it will come into your inbox marked ‘Unmute Yourself’ – this is because it is totally anonymous and untraceable – so you can fill it in honestly and in confidence. If you don’t get around to it immediately, you’ll be able to search ‘Unmute Yourself’ to find it later. I want to ask everyone to fill it in so we understand the true experience of as many colleagues as possible.
And secondly, the annual colleague recognition event the Star Awards takes place next Wednesday, September 17, at 7pm. If you’re a colleague reading this, the link to watch it via YouTube is already in your diary. If you want to watch it from outside of the Trust you can find the link here.
Please join us for what is always a highlight in the Trust’s calendar, to celebrate everything that is so positive about ELHT and recognise our finalists and winners, who are the very spirit of the Trust. Good luck to everyone taking part and thank you to everyone who nominated and helped us to judge.
I will share the highlights next week but in the meantime thanks for reading and do let me know your thoughts about the length and content of the blog.
Martin