Hello everyone, it’s Friday again. Already!
Welcome to what is a bit of a ‘mega-blog’. It’s been an incredibly busy week, with lots to tell you about, so without further ado I’ll crack on with the news.
Last night (Thursday) a few of us from the Trust Board (myself, Chairman Prof Eileen Fairhurst, Nursing Director Chris Pearson, and Non-executive directors Mike Wedgeworth and Trish Anderson) spent a few hours on a ‘walkabout’ around the wards of the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital. The purpose of this was to make ourselves available to night staff so they could ‘Meet the Board’. It was most enjoyable and rewarding. As usual, we were really impressed with all the staff we saw and met, and with the fantastic work they are doing looking after patients and supporting colleagues. I’m already looking forward to doing it again, next time in Burnley General. Thanks everyone, keep up the good work.
I’m excited to tell you today (Friday) is the day when our community will start to benefit from additional funding to improve emergency care as part of a national investment programme. That’s because we have opened our fabulous new Ambulatory Emergency Care Unit at the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital for adult patients who arrive at the Emergency Department or Urgent Care Centres with a range of conditions. These include patients with low risk chest pain and suspected pulmonary embolisms. We’re confident that the new Unit will relieve pressure on our Emergency and Urgent Care services, reducing waiting times and providing our patients with a much better environment and experience. This, together with our Respiratory Assessment Unit, will make a real difference to our A&E as we approach winter. Thanks to everyone involved in its development.
I’m sure you know we are committed to working closely with our stakeholders and partners in an effort to be the best we can be. One such successful partnership is with the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) who we’ve worked with in developing a joint strategy for education and research. Various ELHT staff are involved in this and I’m delighted to announce that UCLan have made a number of prestigious awards to our clinical staff as a result. In recognition of their commitment to education, strategic partnership and research, the title of Honorary Professor has been bestowed upon six ELHT clinicians – including our Medical Director, Damian Riley; and the title of Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer has been awarded to a further 16 ELHT staff. This is a huge achievement – for them personally and the Trust, and both acknowledges and celebrates the contributions and efforts of our many clinical colleagues. Well done to all 22 ELHT clinicians who have been honoured by UCLan (more news on this in the coming days).
Our UCLan partnership, indeed all of our collaborations and joint agreements, ultimately benefit all NHS patients across the whole of Pennine Lancashire, and beyond. Here in East Lancashire, it seems hospital inpatients are already feeling this and the effect of our significant investments in new facilities, the latest medical equipment and high quality staff. Judging by their feedback in the NHS Friends and Family Test (FFT), we are definitely doing something right. In every one of the 12 months up to July, around 98 per cent of inpatients recommended the treatment and care they received at ELHT. This is the highest rating of any NHS Trust in the region, and one of the highest in England. This is really excellent news to receive and a fitting testimony to you - the thousands of ELHT staff who deliver safe, personal and effective care to our inpatients every day. Our response rate to these surveys is incredibly high as well, so the information is reliable.
The IMPReS service are doing excellent work, so much so that they were asked to present to senior NHS staff in London this week. This is the culmination of important work our AHPs are doing with NHS Improvement and AHP4PH (public health) to achieve consistent standards for every MSK patient contact. By ensuring consistency, the IMPReS service aims to help address some of the wider determinants of health and achieve optimal health outcomes for the patients of East Lancashire.
Yes, that is me pictured above getting my flu vaccination this week as I helped launch a major drive to protect East Lancashire staff, their families and patients from the flu. We are always really effective at vaccinating huge numbers of staff (last year 92.3 per cent) so I’m confident we’ll do even better this year. This is a really important part of our winter plans, so please, take up the invitation to be ‘jabbed’ as soon as you can. It’s important for children and families too so I’m happy to support our local CCGs’ initiative aimed at parents and schools – you can see more about that here.
We’re having our Annual General Meeting, next week which will be celebrated with our final NHS70 Tea Party. I’m really looking forward to this, and staff and members of the public are of course welcome to attend. It’s in the Learning Centre Auditorium at Royal Blackburn Hospital on Wednesday 19 September (4-5:30pm). As well as enjoying ‘Afternoon Tea’ it’s a great opportunity to see what we achieved during 2017-18 and put your questions to the Executive and Non-Executive Directors of the Trust. If you wish to attend please let us know by emailing events@elht.nhs.uk
Finally, I am really, really proud to tell you that this Trust has won its second Kate Granger Award for Compassionate Care. This is brilliant news and speaks volumes about who we are, what we do and importantly, how we do it. They’ve only been running for three years, so to win in two of those years is something special. Our Maternity Services and the wonderful people who deliver them, were quite rightly recognised for their superb care on behalf of the 1,600 women who give birth each year via caesarean section at the Lancashire Women and Newborn Centre. Congratulations to you all.
So, thank you for reading my packed blog and enjoy your weekend.