It won’t surprise you to hear, I am sure, that I get lots of emails and messages through the inbox and across various channels and forums every day, with some more important, interesting and engaging than others.
When I spotted one which announced excitedly that ‘EAST LANCS HAVE DONE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’ in the subject line I was immediately intrigued albeit a tad sceptical too. These things promise so much so often only to result in well-crafted marketing messages or click bait, so I was beyond pleasantly surprised to see real feedback for the Trust.
The ‘done it’ refers to an amazing achievement by colleagues in our drug and alcohol service covering Burnley, Pendle and Accrington, who have achieved micro elimination of Hepatitis C against the following criteria:
- Offered 100% service users a test
- Ensuring 98% of people with a history of physically injecting drugs have been tested
- Ensuring anyone with current risk factors were tested in the last 12 months (91%)
- Ensured 91% of people with Hep C are linked into and having treatment
The team has delivered this through working collaboratively with a range of partners including Change Grow Live (Inspire), Lancashire and South Cumbria Operational Delivery Network and the Hepatitis C Trust, as well as through assistance from the drug company Gilead.
Also on the email thread was Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer Sharon Gilligan who simply replied: “WOW - amazing!” and whilst I could not have put it better myself, I do want to add my own congratulations to the entire team, lead so ably by Jane Grassham. Well done all.
This result feels personally satisfying as I worked with them on this in my previous role with the aim of establishing ELHT as the hub of the operational delivery network. This takes us one step further and closer to completely eliminating Hepatitis C and everyone at the Trust is very proud of everything we’ve achieved.
It must be a week for upbeat and uplifting emails as I also really enjoyed the daily update from the Health Service Journal (HSJ) yesterday, which announced the results of the annual NHS Staff Survey 2022 with an enticing trailer about ‘the best and worst acute Trusts’.
I was already well versed in ELHT’s performance in the survey and I knew it was positive, but with wider data from across the NHS included in their analysis I don’t mind to admit they hooked me in and I was keen to see how we had compared.
Again, I was beyond proud to see that the Trust ranked third in the North West for staff recognising we are a good place to work, scoring above the national average in all nine areas, vying for position among the very best in some areas too.
The feedback was compiled independently and anonymously towards the end of last year and whilst our response rate was down, almost 4,500 colleagues across the organisation completed it. The drop in numbers was mirrored across the NHS as a whole, but we must remember it was circulated at a time of great pressure and thank you to everyone in ELHT who found the time and motivation to fill it in.
If you’re a bit of a ‘statto’ here are the questions which have shown improvement:
- 76.4% said the organisation respects individual differences
- 73.3% were able to make suggestions to improve the work of their team
- 70.5% said they have opportunities to improve their knowledge and skills
- 71.2% said colleagues are understanding and kind to them
- 77.8% said that care of patients and service users is the organisation’s top priority
- 87.9% felt their role makes a difference to patients / service users
- 69.6% said their line manager encourages them
- 75.2% said there are frequent opportunities to show initiative
- 69.8% said they felt valued by their team
This feedback is hugely helpful and we genuinely use the data to highlight areas we need to focus on and improve. It is one of the largest workforce surveys of its kind and enables us to track progress each year.
I’m pleased to say that in total the Trust improved in 22 areas of the survey, with 67 areas remaining about the same and just 3 seeing a reduction, albeit still exceeding the national average.
What was really pleasing was that we saw improvement in areas we’d focused on following last year’s results, including health and wellbeing support and flexible working for colleagues. This has clearly been a key area for the Trust as we continue to recover from our response to the pandemic, mindful that our determination to reduce waiting lists for elective treatment whilst also effectively managing some unprecedented demand on urgent and emergency care undoubtedly takes its toll on the entire team.
I was aware we had spotted and acted on this to support people and so it was reassuring to see this was recognised by colleagues and appreciated as well.
Of course, even with such positive feedback, there are pointers we can use to improve.
In particular, I was a bit disappointed to note compassionate leadership had diminished slightly in the perception of colleagues and, as I have written about only recently in the blog, I am very keen to get under the skin of our culture in all teams to make sure it’s consistently the case everywhere.
When you drill down into the data there are clear signposts to specific settings and in the coming weeks and months we’ll be digging a little deeper and putting in improvement plans.
It is no coincidence either that in the same week as these results we have also launched our new Leadership and Management Strategy and Leadership Core Pathway. The latter is a multi-disciplinary programme which will be delivered over a year of face to face learning for colleagues who lead people and projects, as well as change, whilst influencing with compassion and inclusion. Successful applicants will receive coaching and mentoring support as well as completing a quality improvement project – and I am confident this will have a real impact on next year’s scores.
Of the three areas we scored lower on (albeit noting again that they are all above the national average) the first was dissatisfaction about pay and you’ll know that one, this isn’t something we have any control over and, two, it’s currently playing out with industrial action being taken by many professional groups.
I won’t say much more about this, other than to remind people of the impending industrial action announced particularly by junior doctors from Monday to Wednesday next week and ask that if you have an appointment scheduled please click here for more information about that. I’ll also add my thanks to colleagues across all our divisions who have done some phenomenal work to ensure we’re as prepared as possible. In particular the rota and medical staffing teams have performed miracles to get us as ready as we can be.
The other two areas were how the organisation acts on concerns raised by patients and whether colleagues felt they were providing the level of care they would want for their own family or friends.
It’s important we recognise and accept these messages, understand them and set out how we will improve, but I do want to also provide some context too. Regular readers of the blog – as well as anyone who needed urgent or emergency care during the time the survey was carried out – will recognise just how pressured and challenged we were.
It is not an excuse, but I am aware that colleagues were (rightly) struggling with caring for people on trolleys in the corridors of our hospitals and, indeed, on our wards at the most difficult times – often for prolonged periods – and we would all agree it wasn’t what we wanted for anyone.
I am pleased we don’t accept these standards as the ‘norm’ and, to this point, I want to share some related feedback provided by a colleague in Trust Board on Wednesday.
Similar to the roller coaster of email subject lines and whether they’re real or not, this particular personal story began with an opening line that was difficult to gauge and of the kind that would strike fear into the heart of any NHS CEO.
She simply said: “My parents have been in A&E” and fortunately this was quickly followed by… “and I could not have been more impressed.”
The colleague added: “From the people mopping the floor to the doctors, nurses – the whole team – I simply cannot commend them enough. Yes, we were there two or three hours waiting on a trolley in a corridor but we were supported in a calm and professional way and then supported to go home. There is a great team down there and I cannot thank them enough.”
So, on reflection, of course, there’s always more to do and ways we can improve, but the 3rd best Trust to work for in the North West and with above average scores across the board, I am going to take that result and agree.
East Lancs has done it again.
And, for the record, I remain extremely proud to be the Chief Executive, year on year.
Martin