I am absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to write the executive blog this week. It was impressive to see the contributions made by all staff to support the financial improvement in 2018/19, my first year with the Trust. I would also like to thank everyone for the warm welcome and support I have received during that time.
In the South Block all staff are working hard; putting the finishing touches to all that is required to close the accounts for 2018/19; getting cash in, writing annual reports etc. At the same time our attention moves towards the current year 2019/20 and supporting the delivery of this year’s plan (more below).
Many people I come across will often describe finance is an impenetrable ‘dark art’ full of technicalities and jargon. I was lucky enough to be asked to run a development session with some of our nurse leadership last week and I reminded them of some simple advice I was given as a finance trainee many years ago. “Would you do it with your own money and what would the headline be in the local paper?”
That does not just relate to senior managers – we all play a part in the £1m per day spend here at The Dudley Group, and to back that up we have some great staff led by Chris Walker and Richard Price who are very willing to support you.
If you are interested more about the work that we do please do get in touch and we can talk you through what we do or offer shadowing opportunities.
This financial year we have allocated significant resources in 3 main areas. Firstly, to fund all budgets appropriately establishing robust financial baselines. In addition we have made significant investments in front line staffing to support the delivery of safe services, to move towards 7 days service and to support business growth and innovation. The third main area we continue to invest in is the Digital Trust Programme and the implementation of Sunrise. The roll out continued last week with golive of the next phase of the Digital Trust programme. Sunrise provides a platform for us to use to drive quality, improve safety and remove waste as we work through the Dudley improvement practice methodology. Sunrise design is led by clinical and operational staff from across the Trust. The Digital Trust project is now working closely with teams to respond to requests. This is your system!
Moving forward, the clinical information leadership team are there to support the needs of divisions, departments and our teams to refine and develop the system to meet service needs. Please ensure that your improvement requests are logged with the IT service desk; at dgft.terafirmaservicedesk@nhs.net . Dr Max Hodges (CCIO), Mitchell Fernandez (CNIO) and Mr Olu Oluwajobi (Clinical Safety Officer) are your clinical contacts to champion this evolution.
And to prove that finance people do get out, some other news!
I presented my first ever Healthcare Heroes Award to May’s healthcare heroes team winners! Community ENT received this month’s team award due to the team pulling together and supporting each other through a very difficult time for one of the team members. During this time the ENT doctors also played a key role in keeping the clinics operating despite the change in the support they received, this meant that patients continued to be treated. Well done team!
Steve Ford memorial service
This week we celebrated the life of one of our volunteers Steve Ford. Steve dedicated over 30 years to the hospital volunteer service, mainly on the Children’s ward, where he set up a charity to make wishes come true for our poorly young patients. Members of Steve’s family and friends attended the memorial held at Russells Hall Hospital to celebrate his life.
Iftar dinner
Everyone is invited to enjoy a sociable evening with colleagues at an Iftar dinner on Wednesday 28th May 8.30pm in the main restaurant at RHH, where people will be sharing some wonderful Indian cuisine while catching up with colleagues.
Director of Operations for Surgery, Women and Children
leaving presentation
We were all sad to see Ned Hobbs, Director of Operations for Surgery, Women and Children, leave the Trust on Friday 17th May 2019 to take up the post of Chief Operating Officer at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust. We wish Ned all the best in his new role and we understand he’ll be busy with his new arrival in the meantime. Colleagues gathered at a surprise presentation in the Clinical Education Centre to wish Ned farewell.
Neon Dash
And in support of our Neonatal unit we all have the opportunity to Go Neon for neonatal at the Neon dash. The 5k fun run or walk is held at Himley Hall on Sunday 9th June, open to all please come along and support our fundraising.
