Published on: 24 November 2017

Hello everyone, happy Friday.Kevin McGee.jpg

This has been a very challenging week for us in ELHT and like many other Trusts we have struggled to meet the four hour standard in our Emergency Department.  I want to thank our patients for their support and understanding and for the appreciation they continue to show our staff.  I also want to thank our staff for their commitment, skill and resilience.  I am always humbled when I witness direct patient care, and you never fail to make me proud.

I feel it is timely at this point to talk about our vision ‘to be recognised for the provision of safe, personal and effective care’.  It is no coincidence that the word ’safe’ is at the very heart of our vision.  Safety – that of our patients, and our staff – is without doubt our first priority.  I am very proud that in the three-and-a-bit years that I have been here, our ongoing efforts to provide harm-free care are delivering significant results.  But we can NEVER be complacent about safety.  Unfortunately, things occasionally do go wrong.  Sometimes, mistakes are made. But whatever jobs we do – porter, nurse, therapist, surgeon, administrator, everyone – your mantra must be ‘safety first’. Challenge your colleagues if you think safety is being compromised. Get the basics right. Check the details. We are publishing a special edition of ‘Share 2 Care’- our vehicle for ensuring learning from incidents and errors – next week. Please take the time to read it and spread the word. 

The safety and wellbeing of our staff and colleagues is also vitally important. I am glad that harm to staff is rare, but any case of harm is a case too many in my view.  Unfortunately I have heard about a recent serious attack on a member of staff from another north west trust and it has prompted me to remind you to all be vigilant and take care. These are dark nights, it’s cold, it’s wet and you may be rushing about. Please, be careful out there.

Here at ELHT we are a progressive organisation, and one of our goals on the way from ‘good’ to ‘outstanding’ is to become a University Trust. This links in with the recently approved strategic partnership with the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) and will hopefully attract more people to come and work at ELHT, and live in and around East Lancashire.  UCLan plans to grow their Medical School and health faculty. ELHT will benefit from both students and graduates from these disciplines as well as IT, HR and Finance and other administrative professions. We are also committed to enhancing our own education and training offer with the establishment of a new Education Directorate early next year.  This will enable us to develop academic units, professorships and increase our research capacity.

I know we are all working hard, and there are the constant pressures of safety, demand, winter, quality improvement, financial balance – to name but a few. But, there is a lot to shout about too – award winning staff, excellent wards, patient satisfaction and good overall performance.  Do you know what, together we are a pretty good team, and the future is bright.

Enjoy the weekend folks, and if you are working, thank you. If you are not working, perhaps you could help us by spreading the word – “keep the emergency department for those who really need it. Think! Where should you be going for treatment?”

Until next time…