Hello everyone.
As I reach the end of my third week, I have to say that I think time passes differently in Gateshead! Although every day races by, I feel like I have been here for a long time and I am sure this is down to the on-going welcome that I have received and the number of people that I am starting to get to know – so once again, thank you.
Yesterday marked three years since we went into the first lockdown for the COVID-19 pandemic and was a day of reflection to remember those who died. It’s an opportunity to connect with and support family, friends, colleagues, neighbours and anyone who helped us or who needs our help.
On Friday of last week, I had the pleasure of attending and conducting the official opening of the breast cancer screening pod. What a great end to the week. As well as getting to spend some time with the staff who have worked so hard to deliver this innovative service, I got to meet some of our volunteers and fundraisers. It really is a great example of how we in Gateshead are truly embedded in the community and are developing services that meet the needs of our patients and population. I also got to experience a Gateshead afternoon tea – which I hope to have again soon.
This Monday I delivered my first session at Trust Induction. A huge welcome to our new colleagues and thank you for choosing us as your place to work. It was a real opportunity for me to share some of the learning that I have to date and to share some of things that I want to add to our organisation.
You may have heard me say this before, but I have a true commitment to an “upside down” management philosophy, which is shared by my executive colleagues. We believe that we are here to serve and work for you as our colleagues. Our job is to ensure that we are the best that we can be and to ensure that you all have the right tools, skills, equipment, people and processes to do your jobs to the best of your ability. It is a true honour and privilege to provide care for our patients. For those of you who are lucky enough to do this, I know that you do everything you can to give our patients a good experience. For those of us who do not provide front line care – we are here to do everything we can to help you. We all contribute to the outcome of excellence in patient care and should be proud of what we do as a team across all professions and functions.
This was reinforced at the excellent patient safety conference on Tuesday. There were some exceptional speakers who really inspired those of us who were able to attend. Professor Michael West reminded us of our duty to care for our most valuable asset – our staff and each other. It is only by doing this that we will achieve exceptional patient care. There is huge evidence that demonstrates how an engaged and happy workforce translates into improved care, increased innovation and reduced costs. This involves a real commitment to become a learning organisation with a just culture, learning from incidents and supporting each other to thrive. The executive team took some time out on Wednesday to think about how we lead in a way that supports this and ensures clinical leadership is at the heart of our decision making.
A thank-you to staff side colleagues as well, it was great to meet you all and hear your thoughts and ongoing commitment to partnership working.
This week’s shout out has to go to Mr Vish Bhattacharya. He was a fabulous host and leader of the patient safety conference. As said by Mr Beeby, we don’t know how he managed to encourage such a prestigious group of speakers but his kindness and commitment to patient safety shone through the whole day.
I also need to thank our Orthopaedic team. Mr Chakravarthy and Mr Singisetti have both been in touch to nominate their colleagues across the ward, outpatients and theatres for their extraordinary achievement in becoming the Trust who met the highest best practice tariff in the country! This is brilliant and not easy to achieve. Again, it is for all of us to celebrate as everyone across the pathway contributes to this and shows real team work.
Lastly, I’d like to say Ramadan Mubarak to all colleagues who are observing fasts this month.