Reflections on our Grand Train Journey

Well, our wonderful Grand Train Journey came to an end yesterday. We flew back into Manchester and took the train back to Blackpool North train station. That is where our trip began. In between, we have been to London, Paris, Zurich, Budapest, Bucharest, Brasov, Veliko Tarnovo and Istanbul. We very much enjoyed the break, and the two weeks has simply flown by. The trip was inspired by an article I read in the Observer newspaper. The person who had written the piece had done a similar trip but had done so in just over a week. When we enquired about it, it became apparent that a week didn’t really allow him to see a great deal of the places he was passing through. 

We wanted a slower pace of life. We chose three overnight sleeper trains, as well as a number of boutique hotels to stay in. This enabled us to both explore the towns and cities, but also to enjoy the countryside as we moved from place to place.  Many apologies to all those folk who will have been bombarded by the many reels, and pictures we have posted on social media along the way. These are for us, at least, precious memories. One life, live it. 

For me, what was also precious was taking two weeks away from work. Although I’m officially retired, I’m Chair of a large mental health NHS Trust which is in ‘special measures’. This followed an undercover exposé into the Trust’s adult forensic services, carried out by the BBC Panorama Programme two and a half years ago. Whilst the focus of the programme was on the abuse found in our forensic services, an independent review commissioned by NHS England revealed the wider organisation appeared to have a toxic culture, was woefully understaffed, and was a Trust where service users and carers had no voice and often received poor quality care. 

I was appointed Chair on 1st January this year and the last six months have been hectic and full on to say the least. Whilst this is not where I thought I might be in 2024, I’m glad I have this opportunity. It is a privilege. It will take a while to resolve the many complex problems and issues facing the Trust, but we have made a great start, and by the end of summer, we will have an almost completely new Board. For me this is an important step as developing a healthy organisational culture will absolutely be driven by the Board. 

As an organisation, we do not stand alone in addressing the challenges we face. Colleagues from NHS England, both at a regional and national level, have been very supportive, as have the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board. The Care Quality Commission continue to review our services on a very regular basis, and every review is helpful. We work alongside several partners and much of the last six months has been spent re-establishing relationships and starting the slow building back of the trust need to nurture and sustain these and future relationships. 

Now I consider myself to be an experienced and skilled ‘people person’. My leadership style is transcendental, and I strive to serve the needs and ambitions of all the colleagues I work with and who, collectively, deliver the services we provide. An important element of this approach is to build solid relationships with colleagues. Again, this takes time and effort. Over the past six months, I have spent energy on both, but I was certainly ready for a break. 

However, since the start of the year, I have discovered much that fills me with hope. I have found many brilliant colleagues across our organisation, and they are doing great things. There is a job to be done to build upon these pockets of excellence and spread their good work across the entire organisation. I’m ready to return and stand alongside our new Chief Executive, Karen Howell and all the other members of our Board and continue to lead our improvement journey. 

It was a great two weeks away. Reflecting on what we did, I was reminded of the advice from the Institute for Mental Health on how to maintain good mental health and improve our wellbeing. (1) Regular exercise. Well J and I walked miles every day, and strangely, most of these were uphill! (2) Eat Healthy, eat regularly and stay hydrated. That was another tick. 

(3) Make sleep a priority. The difference in time between places meant we often slept in (the exception being J on two of the trains). (4) Try a relaxing activity. We sat and watched light and music shows, visited countless churches and mosques, and read, explored and embraced every different cultural opportunity we could. (5) Set goals and priorities. I had printed off our trip to the enth degree with details of all the train times, connections and how to get from A to B, and despite J’s expectations, they all worked. (6) Practice gratitude. We were met with kindness and human warmth wherever we went, and more so where the folk we met didn’t speak much English. (7) Focus on positivity. We didn’t kill each other, we’re observed to be in love, and we never missed a train. (8) Stay connected. Yes, we were. Except for my Trust. They have an authenticating system that blocked my access to any emails. There was an abreaction in the middle Monday when, inexplicably, my inbox was filled with the missing emails. I didn’t look. And that was actually very good for my wellbeing!