Caroline's Blog

How many of us wake up in the middle of the night thinking about the things we need to do both at home and at work?   I awoke at 2.30am and found myself in my kitchen making lists, all because on Friday I finish for two weeks, realising that by the time we get back the children will be back at school, which is a nightmare, as more school uniforms will be needed quickly – thank god for the internet.

Whilst thinking about this I read my son’s summer essay – 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.  George had described beautifully the merits of pursuing ideas to achieve success and become a genius, just like Thomas Ava Edison did when he invented the light bulb.

Little did I know how useful this saying would be, as following my sleepless night I facilitated a meeting with our key doctors and nurses to look at our future plans and how, in light of the current economic downturn, we would manage a potential reduction in funding.  I wanted the team to look at the challenges ahead as an opportunity to remodel our services, implement new ways of working and improve the care we give to our patients.

How this demonstrated what geniuses we have here at The Christie – so much inspiration and perspiration, supported by the view to seek out opportunities in a time of change.

Finally, after a hard and long day, I met with two of my closest friends, who are great supporters of our fantastic hospital and are always full of ideas to make the world better.  I do believe that when women get together as either friends or in business, they are hugely powerful and truly make things happen.

Now I need some inspiration and perspiration of my own in regard to packing the suitcases for our holidays.  As all wives will know, this has not even crossed my husband’s mind. 

So I would like to wish those who have not already been away a lovely summer break and farewell and I will be back in two weeks (that is if I pack in time!)

And as the credit crunch continues to take its toll on all sectors of the economy, we certainly have a huge challenge to face in the NHS.  There are tough times ahead as the NHS won’t see the same level of funding it’s enjoyed for many years, but we need to remain positive and ensure that we continue to provide the best for all our patients. 

We are currently looking at how we are going to maintain our excellent reputation for patient treatment and care under a tighter budget.  Change is also a good thing – it puts us to the test and makes us look at how we can move forward and improve.  It is imperative that we involve our staff and our patients in doing this.  It’s often the simple ideas and solutions which improve services and enable us to be more effective with our resources.  When I was practising as a midwife I could often see simple solutions which would make the NHS more effective and better for patients.  The challenge for me now, as a CEO, is to ensure that I listen to staff and patients to get these simple solutions.

And even though we are all having to tighten our belts, it doesn’t mean that we’re going to be taking a backwards step.  In fact we are going to be building two new surgical theatres which will allow us to carry out even more specialist work on a national and private basis and remain cutting edge. 

So there’s certainly never a quiet moment here.  We are rising to the challenge yet again at The Christie.