Hello everyone and welcome to my Easter blog!,
I started today bright and early today, doing a short shift in our Emergency Department as part of our ‘Back to the Floor’ programme. I want to thank all the staff for welcoming me, and helping me! They really do an amazing job there – I was, am and always will be in awe of their skills and compassion.
Spending the whole morning with the team and seeing first hand the way they deal with the situations they face on a daily basis really makes me so proud of our ELHT ‘family’.
Well, it’s almost Easter - and for many of us a nice long weekend. So, let’s spare a thought for those members of staff of who are foregoing time with their own families and loved ones to come to work and look after the people of East Lancashire. Yes, for many, Easter means business as usual - in our hospitals and in our community teams! It is that reliability, that constancy that sets the NHS – and the people within it – apart. Keep up the great work everybody – your community needs you, and appreciates you.
Speaking of appreciation, every year on 5 May we celebrate the International Day of the Midwife, followed a week later on 12 May by International Nurses’ Day. Once again, we are inviting everyone - staff and public - to name their most inspirational midwife and/or nurse. This is your chance to share your thoughts, to give thanks or to praise that special person. The name of every nurse and midwife nominated will be entered into a prize draw, with the first ten names chosen at random receiving a beautiful bouquet of flowers. You can start nominating TODAY by emailing the name of the midwife or nurse you would like to receive a bouquet to contact@elht.nhs.uk. Nominations will close on Tuesday 7 May, with the lucky midwives or nurses receiving their flowers on Friday 10 May.
Our Chairman, Professor Eileen Fairhurst has sent out a message to all staff today confirming that I will be covering the Chief Executive role at Blackpool Teaching Hospital for six months. I am looking forward to this new challenge and hope to make a positive contribution to Blackpool Teaching Hospitals. I have no doubt they will be successful in recruiting a new, substantive Chief Executive in this period, and I will then return to my own post here at ELHT.
During this time, I will remain the Accountable Officer for ELHT, and I will be focussing on the Together a Healthier Future programme. Of course, I will be staying in touch with you through this blog – though it may be more infrequent. I am only able to accept this interim appointment because I am totally confident in the strength and stability of the Board at ELHT, and I’d like to thank all my staff and colleagues for the wonderful support you have always given me.
I want to finish with a reminder for everyone to think carefully and make the right choice if they need urgent medical treatment. Anyone checking the Emergency and Urgent Care Waiting Times Tracker on our website this week will have seen that, once again, our A&E and Urgent Care facilities are extremely busy. It will almost certainly continue to be busy throughout the Easter weekend, so please consult the NHS website urgent care page and the advice on our Twitter and Facebook channels if you need medical treatment which isn’t an emergency.
I do wish everyone reading this a happy and peaceful Easter whatever you are doing.
Until next time….
Kevin