Christmas, a time to believe (there can be a better future for all)

I hate goodbyes. Well actually J and I try not to hate anything; there is already too much hate in the world. Last week was full of goodbyes and I dislike saying goodbye, particularly to folk I might not see again. And sadly, last Thursday, I didn’t get to say goodbye to everyone I wanted to. Last week was my last week at Stockport NHS FT. After 30 months, I was moving on. All in all, I found it an amazingly emotional week.

It started with our wonderful volunteers’ Christmas meal. Some 70 of our 200 volunteers braved the high winds and torrential rain to celebrate Christmas with a full-on turkey dinner and all the trimmings organised by our award-winning catering, patient engagement and charity colleagues. Given that the average age in the room was 65 years old, having so many people turn up was truly wonderful. Our CEO, Karen James and I served everyone their meal. I can’t tell you how good an experience this was. Karen chided me for flirting with the women, and Karen teased me about my love of sprouts. I gave a little speech, thanking our guests for all for their contributions over many, many years. These are good people, and many of the folk I knew by name. I will miss chatting with them as I went about my everyday business in the hospital. Volunteers like these are the life-blood of our Trust.

Clearing my office was both cathartic, but also a little sad. I don’t suppose anyone really wants to leave their organisation by carrying out their personal office effects in carboard boxes. TBH, I did most of the heavy lifting at 7am when nobody was around. I had one slightly scary encounter with one of our security guards who eyed me with open suspicion as I marched out with a huge plant. I think he thought I was robbing our reception area of one of the large decorative pot plants.

Then there was the last breakfast and lunch in our staff restaurant. I always like to try and do both wherever possible. I relished sitting there, eating my food, and hearing the conversations swirl around me. There was nearly always laughter, and I liked the bustle, the noise, the people watching and of course, the gorgeous food. Our chefs have won many prizes for their food, and patients regularly provided great feedback. My last lunch was a favourite – cheese and onion flan, chips and peas – it was actually the same first choice of meal I enjoyed way back when I first started.

I have yet to sample the delights of the catering at my new NHS Trust. I was there last week to start the ‘onboarding’ process. My experience is probably best captured in a separate blog posting. In fairness, my day didn’t start well. Two accidents on one of the motorways that I travel on resulted in a journey that should have taken 50 mins actually taking over three hours. I have long accepted the fact that such delays will happen. When they do, although it’s frustrating, I remind myself to be grateful that it’s not me that is involved in the accident itself.

As an aside, I was amused by the story last week of Rod Stewart having to wait for his wife Penny in a store in London’s Oxford Road while she tried on numerous clothes in the changing room. Rod, like most of us in these situations do, found himself a seat and waited. And waited. And waited. There was a picture of Rod with shoulders slumped looking slightly grumpy and dejected. I know that feeling, although as with motorway traffic jams, I have developed a huge reservoir of patience and have learnt to simply wait things out. Thank goodness for online shopping.

My last day of actually being on site came much too quickly. Last Thursday did have some delights though. One was chairing the last formal meeting of our Council of Governors. Again, it was a very blustery day, and I was pleasantly surprised to see so many of our governors turn up for the meeting. The Council of Governors play a critical role in holding the Non-Executive Directors to account, and through this process, gain assurance about the services the Trust provides. When I first arrived two and a half years ago, these meetings to be fair were pretty dull, and often the only voice to be heard was mine. However, that has changed and through encouragement, support and training, our governors have gained the confidence to ask penetrating questions and raise appropriate challenges. I have loved working with them, and at the end of the meeting found it difficult as we said our goodbyes.

There was a magical moment of joy however. Following the meeting, we all bundled outside to take part in the ‘Great Lights Switch On’ – not our Christmas lights, we had done that a few weeks ago. No this was the signage on our new Urgent and Emergency unit. It was an important moment. Whilst there are some months to go before everything is complete, much of the new building is operational. What made the switch on so special for me (and I suspect for others too) was the fact that the sign said Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, and not Stepping Hill Hospital.

It seems perhaps a small difference, but the symbolism is important. I’m sure it will take a long time for folk, colleagues, and our communities to think of our organisation as being more than the acute hospital. Whilst there will always be a place for a hospital, my ambition as a Chair was to look for ways to reduce the need for hospital care. Helping people live healthier lives, providing opportunities for people to grow and realise their own life goals has always felt the way to go to me. Today is Christmas Eve, and I guess if we are allowed a wish, mine would be that we continue to embrace and harness all the resources in our neighbourhoods, communities, and families in promoting greater health and wellbeing for all.

Merry Christmas everyone!