Aaron Cummins, CEO of UHMBT
University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) has refreshed its strategy to reflect new challenges and to reiterate the importance of continuing to work in partnership to improve patient care in the Bay.
Aaron Cummins, Chief Executive of UHMBT, said: “The NHS is in a period of transformation so we need to re-group and re-energise to focus on the next stage of our journey.
“Our new strategy also reflects the aims of the national ‘NHS Long Term Plan’.
“Working in partnership with our Bay Health & Care Partners (BHCP), this strategy reinforces our ambition to deliver Better Care Together. Ensuring that quality and safety remains at the core of everything we do, we will continue to improve our services to better address the needs of our growing population and a greater demand for services.
“We also want to address recruitment challenges and manage the continued expectation to deliver improvements in productivity and efficiency.
“Our vision is to constantly provide the highest possible standards of compassionate care and the very best patient and staff experience. We will also listen to and involve colleagues, partners and service users.”
The refreshed strategy highlights the Trust’s values which have been designed by colleagues, members, governors and volunteers.
The key priorities within the strategy are the ‘5 Ps’, which reflect the Trust’s values.
They are:
Patients: Our patients will be treated with compassion, dignity and respect. Patient experience is our most important measure of achievement.
People: Our colleagues (employees and volunteers) are the ones who make the difference. Colleagues understand and share our values and this is reflected in everything they do.
Progress: Our progress will be improved through innovation, education, research and technology to meet the challenges of the future.
Partnership: Our partnerships make us stronger; by investing in them, we will deliver the best possible care to our communities.
Performance: Our performance drives our organisation. Providing consistently safe, high quality patient-centred care is how we define ourselves and our success.
The Trust is working on an array of initiatives and plans in relation to the Five Ps.
One example of how the Trust has listened to patients and families is ‘Albert’s Campaign’. This campaign has been created to ensure that patients on wards do not suffer from kidney problems due to dehydration.
In terms of looking after people who work for the Trust, a Colleague Experience Strategy is being created to foster a culture of kindness and inclusion.
The Trust is making progress in becoming much more active in the field of clinical research. A strategy has been created to develop the Trust’s Research and Development department and increase the number of patients recruited to clinical trials.
Partnerships with communities, health and care partners, colleagues, volunteers, charities, employees and commerce are at the core of the Trust’s ambition to be a fully integrated care system.
Partnership working is already delivering real benefits to its performance in improving patient care; just one example of this is the Trust working with local opticians which has enabled thousands of patients to be seen more quickly in the local community rather than in hospital.
If you would like to find out more, please click on this link to see the UHMBT strategy document and video: https://www.uhmb.nhs.uk/about-us/our-strategy/