From the Chair: Connecting strategy and practice through our development work
This week, I was excited to lead the Trust’s board for our development meeting; these meetings allow the leadership team to focus on upcoming strategic priorities and how they inform our day to day work at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.
As Chair, I believe that continuous professional development is important in every role across the Trust; whether clinical or non-clinical, we all need time to reflect on the bigger picture of our work, develop our skills, and connect with others who can support our learning and broaden our understanding. These board development sessions are part of my vision for embedding a culture of continuous improvement, and how we ensure the Trust is a well led organisation. I’d like to highlight three of the topics we discussed, and how they impact on our patient care.
Understanding psychosis
Firstly, we met with Professor Craig Morgan, Professor of Social Epidemiology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London who spoke about the social and cultural factors involved in the diagnosis and treatment of psychosis. We know that, across the UK, people living in areas with high levels of deprivation, and people from Black and minority ethnicities are more likely to be diagnosed with psychosis. Understanding the social determinants of health, and the cultural factors that may affect how patients present is part of making sure we have the best evidence to inform our clinical decisions, care for our patients, and support our commitment to be an anti-racist organisation. Our partnership with the IoPPN enables us to advance mental health care for both current and future patients, and I ’d like to extend my thanks to Professor Morgan for an informative, thoughtful and patient-centred discussion.
Refreshing our strategy
The second item on our agenda was our work to refresh the Trust’s strategy , building on Aiming High, Changing Lives. While our commitment to patient care remains unchanged, we need to ensure our strategic priorities remain aligned with the NHS’s national priorities, the needs of the people we serve, and equips us to be fit for the future. The voice of our staff, communities and stakeholders will play an important role in developing this strategy, so we’ll be organising consultation opportunities in the months ahead to hear from you on how we can shape the strategy.
Oversight framework
The final item we discussed was the recently launched NHS oversight framework, which are part of how NHS England now assesses and ranks healthcare providers. It is built around factors including financial performance, waiting times, and staff engagement measures, including the NHS Staff Survey, to determine league table performance. How we’re measured as a Trust has changed, and it’s important that we as a board understand how that works, and what it means for our service delivery. Patient care remains our priority, but we recognise the importance of measuring and collecting accurate data across our services so that we can provide a full and accurate picture of our Trust’s performance to NHS England, ensuring transparency and accountability to the wider public.
From boardroom to frontline
As we continue to shape the future of SLaM, I remain committed to ensuring that our strategic decisions are not only transparent but also meaningful to our teams, patients and carers. By sharing updates like these, I hope to bridge the gap between board-level discussions and the care we provide across our hospitals and in the community. Together, we can make a positive difference to the health and wellbeing of people in London and nationwide, and I look forward to hearing your views as we move forward together.
