News
Health Matters A personal view from the chair of NHS Orkney John Ross Scott
26/02/2010 08:56:00
Weathering the wind of change
IMPROVING health and health services in the county is important to me and to staff working in NHS Orkney. So when a clinician, regardless of profession or where they work, writes an open letter to me as chairman I listen. Our newly appointed chief executive Cathie Cowan also listens and in listening we invite and seek out the views of staff.
So far these views are mixed with a significant number of staff feeling
hurt and let down by 'one of their own' but it would be wrong of me not
to point our that there are issues, real issues that staff everyday
grapple with when delivering services here in Orkney.
Delivering health services here is by its very nature, complex,
challenging and, a times, quite unique. The way we deliver care, how it
is delivered and where it is delivered from is changing. The pace of
change can be daunting but the positive outcomes to patients, service
users and carers will, I am convinced, make it all worthwhile.
Over the past two years, in this column, I have emphasised why service
modernisation and change is necessary. It must happen in response to
new techniques and developments in clinical practice, new legislation,
new directives, new clinical standards and an inspection regime that
brings transparency to what we do. Doing nothing is not an option.
Change is here and change will remain a part of what we do as we strive
to promote and deliver service excellence. The patients and folk in
Orkney deserve no less.
Could we in recent weeks have done better to handle the changes taking
place? I acknowledge that as a team our approach to change can be
lacking at times in terms of consistency and cohesiveness of approach.
But management is listening and in engaging with the staff to ensure we
hear their concerns and together we respond with solutions that support
our service modernisation change programme whilst equally supporting
each other.
Staff are extremely important - even vital - in bringing about change.
Together we know the solutions are within our staff, our role is to
'untap' that resource in response in order to provide accessible, safe
and, most importantly going forward, sustainable clinical services here
on Orkney.
By doing so we can attain a more sustainable, open and patient-focused
service that will allow us to move towards the ultimate aim of new
dental and hospital facilities.
Over the past year through our staff we have delivered significant
change which has resulted in real investment in frontline services. The
joint development with Orkney Island Council to establish an
Intermediate Care Team, the primary care changes in the North Isles and
the recent appointment of nurse practitioners to support people living
in the Isles are making a difference and will in the future make a real
difference. Feedback so far is very positive - regardless of what any
maverick councillor might suggest - and the agreement to work with the
council to establish an integrated health and social care facility
means the primary and community care infrastructure to support living
in their own homes and communities is something we are now better
equipped to do.
The changes in the Balfour Hospital are also making a difference and
while there is lots more to do it is clear that staff will shape the
changes and be supported.
And we have developments in the pipeline, already we have developed
business cases to support a new dental centre in Kirkwall and we have a
business case being progressed that will support a new hospital. So our
staff can be proud, we can be proud that service modernisation is
firmly embedded in health services here in Orkney.
I recall on my first day at NHS Orkney a member of staff - who has
since left the organisation - saying to me: "Everybody talks of change
but nothing ever happens! Your talk will likely not be any better than
that of your predecessors." I am delighted that this is no longer the
case but we still have lots to do together and I for one am up for that
challenge.
Interestingly, since Michael Dohrn's letter, staff and management seem
to be talking to each other better, we are also listening to each other
and the lines of communication, having once felt like one-way traffic,
are now two-way busy highways.
Everyone needs to continue to keep fully engaged with what is happening and understand why.
I have spent most of my life demolishing ivory towers so the last thing I want to do is sit in one!
In the words of Barack Obama: "Change will not come if we wait for some
other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting
for. We are the change that we seek."