Published on: 15 June 2018

Hello readers, welcome to this week’s blog.Kevin McGee.jpg

Last week I mentioned that I was attending the Hyndburn ‘Parkrun’ and I went on Saturday to officially start the event and meet the organisers and runners.  What a fantastic time I had! More than 130 people – many NHS staff – got together for this 5km run.  There were hundreds of ‘Parkruns’ taking place across the country last week, all in honour of NHS70. There were men, women and children all determined to pay their tribute to our fantastic NHS. It was brilliant. I was delighted to be there, and thank you so much to Sarah Johnson, a specialist midwife here at ELHT, for inviting me to be part of it.  You can see some of the pictures here.  Parkrun is a great initiative and its main aim is to enable access to a run in every community, if people want one.  It’s not about raising money; it’s not about setting records. It is about promoting health and wellbeing, regular exercise and social interaction. The physical benefits of this are well known and the impact on mental health is equally impressive.  I’d urge you all to join a ‘Parkrun’ and if there isn’t one in your community, maybe set one up? You can find more details here http://www.parkrun.org.uk/

Staying on physical exertion, I have just popped down to the main reception here at Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital to greet Dr Andrew ‘Bod’ Goddard, President-elect of the Royal College of Physicians. He and many others, including our own consultant dermatologist Dr Ian Coulson, cycled here as part of a cycle tour of the UK with the updated RCP Charter for Physicians.  A group of our doctors came to welcome him and to sign the Charter. Bod’s cycle tour is also to raise awareness about ‘Physicians for Africa’ an initiative of the East, Central and Southern Africa College of Physicians (ECSACoP) to double the number of physicians being trained in the region by 2030. https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/ 

I wonder if you saw our partnership working with Lancashire County Council Social Care featured on the BBC national news yesterday? If you did, you may still be a little unclear as to the real benefits of that work and the impact it is having both on individuals and services. There is great partnership between the agencies here in East Lancashire and one real positive outcome is the significant reduction in the number of people being delayed in hospital.  Another is the person-centred, tailored support for people in their own homes.  What was absolutely obvious in the special report broadcast last night was the continuing pressure on our services, and the incredible compassion of every single member of staff who was shown. It was lovely to see and yet another reminder of just how special the NHS, and the people who in it, are.  I was very proud to be a part of it.  Thank you so much to everyone involved.

Finally, despite those continuing pressures, we actually exceeded the four hour A&E standard yesterday with 96% of our patients being seen, treated and admitted or discharged within four hours. A massive thank you and well done to everyone; a brilliant achievement. Now, if we could just do that every day…..

Until next time

Kevin