Hello everyone. Do you think today has that ‘end of term’ feeling about it, even though we are not at school? Perhaps it’s the talk of crowded airports and traffic jams; maybe it’s the excitement of children’s summer holidays and the panic of childcare. It could be any of those, but for me, I think it is the graduation ceremonies that have affected me this week.
I was a proud dad when I attended my son’s graduation on Tuesday (well done Joe!). I was also a proud CEO when I saw the first cohorts of Physician Associates and Biomedical Scientists graduating at UCLan. Our Director of Nursing Chris Pearson attended the Nurses’ graduation day there. We are both delighted that we witnessed this hugely important milestone and life moment for many of our own future staff. I was truly humbled to be a part of the ceremony itself on Wednesday, when I received an Honorary Fellowship from UCLan. Thank you to UCLan for this – it means a lot. Our partnership is incredibly important and I am glad to see the University, its Health Faculty and now its Medical School, grow from strength to strength.
It was very satisfying this week to hear a member of staff remark that the Trust’s clear commitment to openness, transparency and learning has had, and continues to have, a marked effect on our culture and our performance. A trust’s culture is often described as ‘the way we do things’ and if our culture can be accurately described as open and transparent – then we must be doing something right. This is so important. As is being able to learn from when things when they go wrong. Our publication ‘Share 2 Care’ is just one of the ways we encourage all our staff to understand how and why an incident may have occurred, and also, how to make sure it doesn’t happen again. So I’m really pleased that it has just been shortlisted for a communications award. Well done to everyone concerned in this. Speaking of culture, I urge all staff to complete the ‘culture and leadership survey’. It is totally anonymous and is an important part of our work to make compassionate leadership the cornerstone of our future development.
Do you ‘Know your Board’? You really should. There was a feature in the latest edition of ‘Our Trust Your News’; we’ll be sending posters out to all areas in the next couple of weeks and there are dedicated pages on the Trust website. The Board is made up of both the Executive and Non-Executive Directors and they’d like to meet you. They frequently take part in the ‘patient safety walkabouts’ that take place throughout the Trust. We are organising a short series of ‘Meet the Board’ sessions when you can drop in, meet some of the directors and raise any issue, or ask any question. I hope you are able to attend one of these – even if it’s to just say ‘hello’. We’d love to see you. Watch out for the information.
I’m sure you will have by now seen our Trust Quality Handbook which you can take a look at here. This is a handy guide to help you to understand and demonstrate our vision and values, and the context in which you contribute to safe, personal and effective care. You doing this well is the key to our culture, to our success and to patient satisfaction. Thank you all for everything you do.
So, if you are off on a well- earned holiday, bon voyage, enjoy it and, good luck with the travel!