From Boardroom to Frontline: Launching our Trust Strategy
This month, we welcomed Paul Calaminus, our new Chief Executive Officer to his first Board Meeting, on Tuesday 29 September. This was an important opportunity for all Board members to hear Paul’s initial reflections and insights from his first visits to teams and services across the organisation. We welcomed his strong focus on listening, learning and identifying the priorities, strengths and challenges facing colleagues across the Trust.
Listening to frontline experiences
As a Board, we value the voices of our staff, recognising them as an important way to celebrate improvement while identifying challenges throughout the organisation. This month, we were joined at the start of the Board meeting by Dr Laura Convertino, who spoke about the increasing complexity and volume of patients accessing services across the Trust. Dr Convertino shared that this was leading to escalating pressures for our staff, and required rethinking our ways of working to address the needs of our communities.
Hearing from Dr Laura invited us to consider what more we need to do to ensure we continue to provide meaningful care for our service users, whilst supporting colleagues working in difficult circumstances. We as a Board acknowledged the rising demand, workforce pressures and financial constraints that staff are facing every day and we remained committed to listening to their experiences and recommendations for change.
Saying goodbye to Lambeth Hospital
As many of you may know, Lambeth Hospital is now formally closed and all wards and services based on the site have moved into their new homes. We know this transition hasn’t come without its challenges, and we would like to thank our estates colleagues, and everyone involved, for all their hard work.
Last week, staff and service users came together at a farewell event to say goodbye and reminisce on the fond memories made at Lambeth Hospital. I know this was an emotional time for the staff, service users, carers and families who have both provided and received care at Lambeth Hospital. However, whilst one chapter has come to an end, another is just beginning, and I am excited to see how these changes will drive the care we provide moving forwards.
Shaping our future together- Clinical Strategy and Trust Strategy
In our September meeting, the Board approved the new Trust Strategy and Clinical Strategy, marking another significant milestone for the organisation. Teams from across the Trust have worked extensively with service users, carers, and partners to understand what matters most to them and what they felt was missing from our ambitions. Over 2,500 contributions were received during the engagement phase earlier this year, and then analysed, summarised and prioritised. This meaningful feedback - and all the work behind the scene to use it meaningfully, has informed and shaped both strategies, ensuring they reflect the priorities of the people we serve as well as of our colleagues and partners.
I am confident that these strategies will help drive ambitious, positive change for SLaM in the next five years. They will help us evaluate how we work, and as a Board we are committed to use them to guide our agenda and to focus conversations on what matters most. The Trust's Strategy is not just a document; it is a commitment we are making together to work collaboratively and take ownership of the improvement we need to lead.
Whilst we have set ambitious plans for the direction we want to go in, we have worked to ensure these are realistic and achievable. Getting this balance right has been a key priority, enabling us to make informed decisions that prioritise patient care. Both the Trust Strategy and Clinical Strategy will be officially launched at the Staff Conference on Monday 12 October. I will be opening the event alongside Paul Calaminus, and I am looking forward to meeting colleagues and discussing how we can use the Strategy as a framework to inspire positive change across the Trust.
Learning as a Board
Just as the organisation is learning every day, the Board is also taking every opportunity to develop. At the end of our September meeting, Board members took part in safeguarding training, reinforcing our understanding of our collective responsibility to protect people’s health, wellbeing and human rights, and to ensure individuals can live free from harm, abuse and neglect. We know that safeguarding is everyone's role, and it was important to see all Board members take this training. As we spend time visiting services and meeting staff and service users across the organisation, it is important that we remain alert to safeguarding concerns and take on the responsibility in supporting a safe and inclusive environment for all.
Thank you all for your perseverance, dedication and enthusiasm in this period of significant change. Looking ahead, I am confident that we can turn our ambitions into meaningful improvements for staff, service users and the communities we serve. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the SLaM staff conference on 12 October.