I feel that the past couple of weeks have been among the slightly quieter ones since I took on the role of Chief Executive for our CCG. No doubt a week away from the office for a break in Ireland has helped introduce a feeling of relative calm.
Despite the apparent quieter period there’s still plenty of work that’s been going on. We continue to work with our colleagues across West Yorkshire on developing a shared approach to stroke care including support for patients with atrial fibrillation. A recent stock take of where we are has helped us consider some of the early priorities that will help healthcare professionals and patients so that we can improve outcomes for anyone affected by stroke.
Before I went on leave we held a workshop for our Governing Body giving us a chance to assess how well we are doing in terms of delivering our ambitious strategy. The workshop also gave us an opportunity to reflect on what quality means to us as a CCG, how we approach this as commissioners and how we ensure quality for our patients and their families.
In the week I returned back to the office the period of relative calm appears to have come to an end. We held our Governing Body meeting in public and I also attended a specially arranged meeting to discuss how we can effectively manage admissions and discharge of patients for community beds.
I’ve also been at a meeting to listen to Simon Stevens, Chief Executive for NHS England, and David Bennett, Chief Executive for Monitor, outlining their thoughts on what the key priorities are for the north of England. They also gave their thoughts on what they feel should be the priorities for the coming months and for 2015-2016. It was also an opportune moment to find out more about Simon’s vision for a sustainable NHS for now and for the future as he discussed his five year forward view which has been recently published by NHS England.
At the same meeting we heard from Professor Aidan Halligan. Professor Halligan is the Director for Well North a Public Health England initiative to improve the health of some of the most disadvantaged people and communities across the North of England.
I will also be attending a meeting of the national Safer Staffing Advisory Committee where we will put forward our recommendations for appropriate (safe) staffing levels for accident and emergency departments.
While I enjoyed my trip to Ireland featuring a mix of walking trips and golf, I’ve also kept up to date on my daughter’s latest adventures on her round-the-world trip. She’s currently in San Francisco before she sets off for Los Angeles and from there her next stop will be Fiji. It was great to find out that along the way she made some new friends including some from Australia who have offered her accommodation when she arrives on their shores
Before I sign off I just wanted to say it was great to see the amount of investment made into developing walking trails in Ireland, I hope this will encourage more people to enjoy the great scenery of Ireland as well as keeping fit.
Hope to provide another update for you soon.
Phil
Philomena Corrigan is the Chief Executive for NHS Leeds West Clinical Commissioning Group.