Last week I spoke about the immense and protracted pressure being felt by everyone at the Trust as part of increased demand for services across the wider health and social care system.
I said there was no magic wand to fix it and I remain of that mind.
The fact is that there are an incredible amount of people who need help, treatment and support. This is evident both through our urgent and emergency care pathways as well as those who need routine but often life-enhancing treatment and procedures. We continue to see large numbers of people coming into A&E, no doubt, but we have ever growing waiting lists too.
Internally we have acknowledged this and the impact on colleagues in every team – both in our hospitals and across the community. We’ve also issued a rallying call to ask people what we could do differently to ease the pressure and increase outcomes for local people and staff.
In last week’s blog I suggested there were actions that people could take in the Trust and also in our community to try, together, to make improvements.
Thank you to everyone who has taken up the challenge to try new things, to think or work differently or to consider alternative ways to seek help away from A&E.
The good news is we are seeing that difference. I cannot tell you how great that is to report.
One clear example is that we are seeing around 575 people a day through our urgent and emergency centres such as A&E, Urgent Care and Minor Injuries. That’s about 65 people more per day than in October 2019, but the good news is that it is less than we were seeing in September. A small period of time, but the fact is it has reduced for the first time in a long time and that chink of light is very welcome indeed.
I share this information here to inspire more of the same. What can we do? What can you do? How can we continue to make inroads into this complex set of circumstances?
This challenge is indicative of our mindset internally, which we have switched up this week to focus less on the ‘doom and gloom’ of our situation to a real push to recognise all of the things we are doing each and every day. It has created some respite and, dare I say it, made us feel a bit better about ourselves too.
One example which seems to have lifted our spirits was a ‘CEO Shout Out’ approach to recognise and celebrate as many colleagues as possible for doing amazing things. A simple idea, we asked everyone to share their thanks to each other, their stories of help and support found within the Trust and how colleagues were making a difference to each other in their work.
And wow did we get some stories!
It was really heart-warming to actually see how individual colleagues and teams recognised and appreciated the input and support of other individuals and colleagues, which included everything from the brilliant catering team to wards, nurses, doctors, our amazing domestic crews, the estates team, operational colleagues, community services and IT projects… I can’t mention them all but rest assured – you name it, we had it. It was great.
What this shows is that we truly are in this together. Colleagues recognise they can’t do anything effectively without the support of each department across the Trust.
And what was really inspiring was that, whilst we’re all busy and under the cosh, it doesn’t take much for us to remember that ELHT team spirit. The values and energy that binds us together is the very source that will drive us through this difficult time.
On Tuesday I hosted a virtual event where myself and colleagues in the Executive Team provided updates and read all of the ‘shout outs’ we had received, as well as adding our personal thanks for the incredible work being delivered each day.
Those on the event added more to the chat box and for those who couldn’t watch it live we’ve shared the link for them to click in when they can, enjoy the moment and see if they were mentioned.
If nothing else it cheered me up beyond anything else this week and just served as a simple reminder that whilst we’re under pressure, we’re still delivering incredible safe, personal and effective care.
I’ve said before how proud I am to be CEO of this organisation. I want all colleagues to feel the same and even when it gets tough to know they’re appreciated, that their contribution is seen and heard and that together we’ll get through this.
If I needed reassurance that this is the case I have received it this week. Thanks to everyone who got involved and rest assured this will now be regular in our calendars as a reminder of a brilliant and high performing team.
If you’re reading this externally, help us please. Get your flu jab, take up your Covid booster when offered and be across the various places you can get help and support if you need it.
I still believe that together we can make a difference. And, more to the point, I believe we will.
Take care,
Martin