Last week in the blog I mentioned the Channel 4 documentary series ‘999: The Critical List’ which has featured the Trust for the last few weeks.
If you haven’t seen it yet, it is available on catch up here and is well worth a watch not just to understand how things work in the NHS or the pressure and challenges we face day to day, but also to see the truth and simplicity of what makes ELHT tick – and that’s the people, both patients and colleagues alike.
It is this sentiment that remains with me now the closing credits have rolled and so today I’d like to share a critical list of my own – and that’s a number of people without whom ELHT would be much the poorer indeed.
Of course, let me add a small disclaimer here that each and every person in the team is critical, playing their part and contributing to our success. I am confident of this and believe it. My aim in including a small number of individuals is not to diminish others by default. The spirit of the Trust and the key to our success is always going to be a combination of many different elements, skills and professions with the capacity to pull together as one.
But a good place to start if you’re looking for inspiration is always with the winners of our Employee of the Month award, which I am grateful to present more often than not. The winners for April and May join a long list of brilliant people who have won previously and I am pleased the award continues to give patients and their families – as well as colleagues – the chance to recognise those who make a difference to our lives.
In April, the congratulations was due to Danysse Tiffany Te, one of our fantastic registered nurses in the Elective Centre at Burnley General Hospital, known to colleagues as Dan.
Dan was nominated for her leadership and support to others using our Electronic Patient Record system Cerner. Her nomination described the way she coaches others who perhaps don’t feel as capable with it, including students and new starters, to enable the team to deliver the highest quality of care.
What I liked best about Dan’s nomination was this: "She always demonstrates behaviours and attitudes that reflect our team professionalism and our Trust values. Dan is so modest and humble and never wishes to take the credit for anything, despite all her hard work, hours of diligence and attention to the smallest detail." I thought that was amazing feedback and congratulations Dan on your award.
May’s winner was one of our health care assistants Sabreen Ali who, together with colleagues on ward D3, showed such incredible care and compassion to a family that they felt compelled to write to acknowledge them, even in their hour of overwhelming grief.
Whilst retaining patient confidentiality, let me share the words of the family, which I found very powerful indeed: “My mum had eight children, 26 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren and over the past week each member visited at different times and they were all taken aback with the caring and responsive nature of all the staff. Never did anyone feel unaccommodated.
“What we experienced in mum’s final hours was pure compassion with most of the family able to meet her before she passed. Prior to that, I really didn’t know what compassion was, but I certainly experienced and felt it on the day. I was also surprised that they knew the last rites of Muslims and supplied us with the necessities after passing. I want to give special thanks to the nurses in that bay (Titi, Jintu & Aashaa) but my special thanks goes to Sabreen. What they did was special and my family will never forget it.”
It is not the first time the team on ward D3 have been singled out with positive feedback and I am beyond grateful to them for their amazing and consistent care to patients and their families.
I have also said many times that the Trust’s approach to providing compassion and support when people are dying is absolutely critical. We don’t have a second chance to get this right for patients or their families or friends and I am extremely proud of the regular feedback we get about how we do whatever it takes to ensure those final moments are as positive as they can be.
For this reason, let me recognise our end of life team, particularly during this year’s ‘Dying Matters’ week for all they do personally and to support colleagues to deliver such human and heart felt care.
Just this week I have also received updates from a range of sources detailing great care was being provided in the Emergency Department, Ward B14 and across our brilliant maternity services.
As I said at the start of the blog, I could spend days and weeks highlighting people across all our teams in hospital and out in the community who are contributing to outcomes for local people across the full range of services we offer.
That said, I know lots of them would respond by saying ‘I’m just doing my job’, demonstrating the same humble approach as Dan our wonderful nurse.
But that job is often a matter of life or death as we have seen on 999: The Critical List and so it was great to hear from one of our consultant radiologists Shofiq Al-Islam with further evidence of high quality of care from his team, which has resulted in the lowest mortality rates for patients who undergo angioplasty surgery for arterial disease in their legs.
It’s a skilled and complex procedure and people can often suffer from infection or complications because of reduced mobility afterwards, so it’s a great achievement for the team and more tangible evidence of the high quality care ELHT provides.
Shofiq made me chuckle when he signed off his update on this with “As you already know, ELHT is punching well above its weight”. I do know this and I am grateful to everyone – right across the Trust – for everything that is being delivered.
In these very challenging times it’s undoubtedly heartening to know when things are going well, but of course it’s equally important to acknowledge also that there is an ongoing impact for colleagues at the moment too.
The pressure on our finances which needs to be corrected immediately if not sooner, the continued very high demand for our services and the restructure of the NHS as a whole is understandably leaving people feeling unsettled and anxious.
That we then continue to see high levels of tangible care and compassion for patients shining through is even more meaningful and I am touched and grateful for the ability of most people in ELHT to put their own personal challenges aside and come into work in service of others.
I want to acknowledge the resilience and personal dedication of all colleagues and offer a reminder that we are here for you too. I know things are tough and, for some, the future feels cloudy and uncertain. We are doing our best to manage these changes. Please reach out if you need help or support.
In the meantime, please remember and recognise that there is also much to be proud of and that includes you.
Martin