As a Governor at Kettering General Hospital I thought readers may like to see what is happening so am copying in the CEOs weekly message plus also the fabulous dance craze
A message from Chief Executive Simon Weldon
Hello everyone!
I’d like to start this week by telling you a little about the work I and the team have been doing in support of getting our Urgent Care Hub approved.
Last Friday, NHS Providers launched a campaign called Rebuild our NHS. You can read about the campaign and what it is trying to achieve here:
https://nhsproviders.org/resource-library/rebuild-our-nhs. We were asked to take part in the campaign, specifically to be filmed, to show some of the estate issues that are a day-to-day reality for staff and patients. On Friday Channel 5 came in and filmed in our urgent care pathway. It was a very supportive piece. If you want to have a look at it please contact Dave Tomney and he will make the arrangements. I’d like to thank everyone who helped support the filming.
Coincidentally, our local MP, Philip Hollobone had also secured a Westminster Hall debate in Parliament on Tuesday this week. I went along to support him. He did a great job in presenting and pressing our case and afterwards we met the Minister who is responsible to tell him about why we needed the hub. I will be following up further with officials in DHSC.
Locally, we posted on Facebook about what was going on. It obviously touched a nerve as since Friday it has reached 36,983 with 289 comments, 259 shares and 10,116 engagements supporting the concept of a hub at KGH. Many comments are heart felt and based on people’s experiences and some are quite detailed. This response is at a level way more than any other post we have ever made. Comments are very positive about staff but fully support our bid for an improved environment – with lots of real life examples.
It is of course very hard to secure capital in the current environment but it is also important that we keep raising the profile of KGH and what we need to serve our patients well and I want to assure you that I will absolutely keep at this no matter the difficulties.
Onto other issues:
I couldn’t let this week go past without referring to the new dance craze certain people have initiated. You can see for yourself here:
This was all in the context our EPR programme to digitise the hospital. In October we will start to roll out the Vitals system across our Adult inpatient wards. This system will enable staff to electronically record and view patient observations using handheld devices that will be available in every ward. We’re making great progress to prepare for this having already set up 100% of the devices, completed some of the testing and now we’re getting ready to deliver training. Last week there was an open day in Foundation Wing where a number of people could come and have a play with the Vitals system. And dance obviously. You may have also seen that the EPR team now include a weekly update in the staff A-Z email. You’ll continue to hear more update through the various communication channels.
And finally, my shout out of the week goes to the IT Training Team. When new staff start at the trust it is really important that they are trained within the first few days to ensure they have the skills, knowledge and system access to be able to fulfil their job roles. In August, the IT Training Team had 512 attendances on various courses which is an all time record. This included delivering various training sessions to 120 new doctors. Well done to the team!
Have a good weekend and thanks for reading.
Simon
Simon Weldon – Chief Executive
