Not quite pastures new*

My first mentor was a wily Irishman called Jimmy Fitzsimons. I first met him as a student nurse while studying in Swansea. At the time he was a Nursing Officer, rather like a Divisional Nurse Manager today. He had a wicked sense of humour, was a keen golfer, hated injustice, and was generous with his time, advice and providing opportunities for others to grow. I learnt a great deal from the way he did things and the way he interacted with those around him. I lost touch with him as I qualified as a nurse and moved to another part of Wales to practise.

Many years later, I met up with him again in Manchester. I had applied to be part of a commissioning team for a brand-new NHS service. It was the first forensic service for adolescents, based around a medium secure unit. The unit was part of the supra-regional services provided by Salford Health Authority, in the grounds of what was then called Prestwich Hospital. Jimmy was on the interview panel, and I was successful! I moved to Manchester in May 1984. It was the start of a wonderful journey of nursing, academia and leadership that has lasted nearly 40 years, more of which later.

In its time, Prestwich Hospital was one of the largest psychiatric hospitals in Europe. In 1903 it provided inpatient care for over 3000 patients. If the remaining red brick buildings could speak, they would be able to tell of the whole history of the emergence of contemporary mental health care in this country. 

Prestwich Hospital no longer exists. Part of the original site still provides a range of mental health care services as part of the Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS FT (GMMH). GMMH is one of the largest mental health care providers in England. For some readers, they might also recall, that the Trust, and particularly the adult forensic services, were the subject of a Panorama programme just over a year ago. The programme showed poor care, abuse, and the neglect of patients, many of whom were extremely vulnerable.

It was a dark day for mental health care. Since that time, there has been much effort and energy directed at delivering an ambitious improvement plan for the whole Trust. The work to create a new Board has begun, and there is an appetite to further develop a clinical strategy that better reflects contemporary best practice. There are some great people working in the Trust, doing great things day after day, and this should not be forgotten or not acknowledged. However, it will take time to bring about the necessary improvements. That said, there are some encouraging small green shoots appearing. Now you might be asking yourself, how do I know these things and why am I telling you?

Well, it's to do with me doing some due diligence which, in my experience, is always worth the effort. Several weeks ago, I was minding my own business when an email landed in my inbox that caught my attention. It was from a firm of headhunters. I get at least one of these types of emails a week, and in the main, I delete them without opening them. They usually ask for names of people the company could approach to see if they might be interested in a job being advertised. Anyway, on this occasion, I sent an email back to say I was happy to have a conversation. The only reason I did so was because the organisation the company was trying to find someone for was GMMH, an organisation I have many good memories of.

I duly had a conversation and suggested three people I thought it might be worth them approaching. Upon being asked if I might be interested, I firmly said no thank you. I was coming to the end of my first three years at Stockport NHS FT and was very much looking forward to the next three years. Our improvement journey was going well, and I was part of a fabulous unitary Board of Directors. So, thank you, but no thank you. A few more weeks went by, when out of the blue I had a phone call from one of the partners of the headhunters, who wasted no time in asking me directly if I would be interested in the role. We talked for a while, and I finally said I would consider making an application over the weekend and let him know that following Monday. Hence the weekend was spent doing my due diligence, part of which were some long conversations with J about making an application. She has always been very supportive of everything I have chosen to do and is a fount of wisdom that helps keep things into perspective. With all things considered, I decided to apply.

Shortly afterwards, I enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of stakeholder-focused groups and interviews. Later that same evening, I was asked if I would take on the role of Chair for GMMH, and I said yes. However, the interim Chair, Bill McCarthy, who had done such a great job over the past year, was leaving on 31st December, and I would be required to start on the first of January 2024. So nearly 40 years after starting at GMMH, I’m back once more and relishing the challenge of working with colleagues, partners and service users as we travel on our improvement journey. As exciting as this has all been, my heart is aching for the many colleagues and friends I have worked with at Stockport. I will miss all these folk terribly, but I know they will continue to ensure the best possible healthcare is provided to the communities of Stockport and beyond. I say a big THANK YOU for all their support and commitment over the past 30 months. You have all been great colleagues.

 

*One of my Stockport FT Council of Governors sent me a lovely email of congratulations. His email header was ‘Moving on to pastures new’. Referring to my one blue and one yellow clog I have been wearing since the start of the war in the Ukraine - and I have said I wouldn’t change until the war is over - he said he hoped that one day soon I might be able to wear a white pair. So do I. Peace not War, Love not Hate.