Although we care for patients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, a hospital always feels very different when you walk around it at a weekend or late in the evening. The Monday to Friday workforce are not present and the normal traffic of patients attending out-patients is greatly reduced. I was in the hospital late Saturday afternoon and it had clearly been a busy day for our Maternity services. I spent some time with staff on our Maternity Assessment Unit, main Delivery Suite and main Maternity Ward. Well done to everybody who was on duty on Saturday. Everywhere was calm, relaxed and managed very well despite the fact that the early part of the day had been very busy. A big thank you to Gillian Walker, one of our Matrons who had come in earlier in the day to provide additional support and to Helen Hodkinson, the shift leader, who did a great job.
Our staff often go above and beyond the call of duty and I would like to recognise the efforts of Anne Bridson, one of our Matrons, and Linda Martin, our Patient Facilities Manager. They voluntarily came in to the hospital on Saturday to support a family who unfortunately lost their baby last year. The family wanted to mark the birthday of their little one with their close friends and family at the hospital. Linda and Anne absolutely demonstrated the values of our organisation by supporting this family through what was clearly a very difficult day. Thank you.
On Monday I visited our main maternity ward and took the opportunity to talk to a number of our midwives and support staff. I really enjoy these visits as they provide an ideal opportunity to discuss the opportunities and challenges that we face as an organisation. I am confident that the solutions to the majority of our challenges can be worked through with our talented and committed staff. Of course, whilst on the ward I also took the opportunity to ooohhhhh and aahhhh at some beautiful babies; there has to be some perks to running Europe’s largest Women’s Hospital!!
Tuesday and Wednesday I was at Aintree Racecourse with a wide ranging group of colleagues from both primary and secondary care. There were some very lively debates, however, not a horse in sight, unless you count the statue of Red Rum!!!
I am delighted that two of our Research Midwives, Gillian Houghton and Michelle Dower have been shortlisted in the Royal College of Midwives Awards for their project 'Help I shrunk the Patients', which was designed to support women with pregnancy weight management. Well done.
It's that time of year when staff across the Trust will be receiving their Staff Surveys. These surveys provide an important insight into the experiences and opinions of our staff and so we encourage every single member of staff to complete theirs. The survey is completely confidential and we pay attention to all of the answers that we receive in order to continuously improve.
Have a great weekend