It’s always hard coming back to work after relaxing during a holiday – it takes a few days to get back into the swing of things and there is no easing of the pace in the summer nowadays!

 

 

 

 

Discussion with Clinical Director

 

Spent a fascinating hour talking over the future organisation of our surgical services with one of our Clinical Directors. We are involved in a planning exercise to try and make best use of our operating theatres and ward space over three hospitals, whilst also concentrating specialist and in-patient work wherever possible. It’s a tricky process and not everyone will agree with the outcomes, but basing any change on the need to achieve best practice standards is definitely the right approach

 

Not long now – we should be ready to discuss options in a month or so!

 

 

Discussion with junior doctor

 

Regular readers will know I am heartened by the growing interest the current junior doctors have in management and leadership. I met one such individual this week, and we had a really good discussion about culture, social media and the present state of the service. We are trying out a discussion forum in the Trust (Yammer) and she is helping to generate interest

 

She showed me I can link my Twitter and Trust Yammer accounts, so the inclusion of #yam in a tweet will post the tweet on Yammer! Two fora with one message – how’s that for an efficiency idea!

 

 

Ward visit

 

Complaints and queries often come directly to me via my website email, so I am personally involved from the very start. I visited the ward to follow up one such email and talk with the Ward Sister and patient and find out how things were progressing. As I talked with the nursing team I was reminded how distressing complaints can be for conscientious staff. I left the ward reassured by the way this very committed group of staff were responding, and on the way out I had the opportunity to speak about care standards with another relative who had just been visiting the same ward

 

Many concerns raised with me nowadays are in ‘real time’ which allows us to discuss and resolve them immediately – so much better for all concerned

 

 

Coaching session

 

Met with my coach this week – I’m not a regular ‘user’ but I am having a few sessions this year. It is important to have time for supported reflection, particularly as the service is so unsettled at present.

 

I’m often asked for advice on personal development. I increasingly find that personal support to do the ‘day job’ better is most useful, supplemented by selected attendance at short events focused on key current topics

 

 

Meet with Chairman

 

Our weekly meeting, with lots to cover after the holiday break. Deanery visit, Chief Inspector visit, performance in July, Family and Friends test results, sexual health and pathology tenders, improvements to urgent care provision in Solihull, and the need to meet with local Healthwatch all featured

 

Much to do, with our place in the first wave of Trusts to be visited by the Chief Inspector of Hospitals looming large

 

 

Chief Inspector of Hospitals: briefing for ‘first wave’ Trusts

 

I attended the briefing session for the first 18 Trusts on friday afternoon – a pretty positive and uplifting session. Mike Richards described the balanced approach that would be taken, aiming to be fair and objective, but helpful too. They will build on the Keogh inspection methodology, and we heard a truly powerful reflection of the impact of the Keogh review on Dudley Group of Hospitals from their CEO Paula Clark. The process had been searching and stressful, but had resulted in a real will to move forward positively

 

David Behan reminded us that the ‘tone and style (of the visits) is very important to us (the CQC)’ and was clear they would take care to be ‘close enough to understand, but distant enough to be objective’. He advised us not to overdo the preparation – ‘don’t pass the inspection, just do the right thing’

 

I left feeling we have a hospital assessment system that will build confidence with staff and public alike, and we are genuinely pleased to be part of the early development phase. Inevitably, in the current climate, there will be some difficult media coverage but in time this will balance out and we have every chance of shifting the culture to that of a learning service that is based on continual quality improvement

 

I hope you are finding our Health Blog Round Up interesting – it’s updated weekly and you can find it