Caroline's Blog

It was a hat-trick yesterday.

Yes, I know England won by just one goal - putting us through the usual 90-minute stress and angst until the final whistle.

But it was three happy wins for me.

England going through to the next round was one, of course.  Although I’d rather be facing Ghana than Germany on Sunday.

The second was the launch of our £14 million joint venture to develop a new private patient cancer centre with HCA International Limited.

The first partnership of its kind in the UK and a really important and exciting venture.  And all about increasing income for our NHS developments.

We currently treat around 1000 private patients a year – but we have the potential to treble our private patient activity with this partnership which will cover all areas of cancer treatment and care. HCA has an outstanding track-record of providing high quality cancer care.

It will not diminish, dilute or divert our focus on our NHS patients in any way – quite the opposite.  That’s why it’s being supported by our staff.

As the NHS potentially faces difficult times ahead in terms of funding, we need to be clever about bringing in extra money through other sources.  We already do this through our charity, research, education and in other areas, but there’s great potential to maximise on our excellent reputation for cancer services and expand further into the private patient market.

And the third was a real honour.

Jointly winning a First Woman award in London last night.

The awards celebrate women across all industries in the UK who have broken new ground and opened up opportunities for other women.

I was up against stiff competition from brilliant leaders in education and transport, and was surprised and delighted to jointly win the public services category with Emma Harrison, founder of the international training company A4e (Action for Employment).

England might not make it to the quarter-finals. But our ‘team’ is trying to ensure all cancer patients come out as winners.

Our goals and wins are for them.

Please don't let this fabulous weather end!

I don't care if I'm indoors working. It really lifts the spirits (note that it rained in South Africa yesterday).

I even got an invite to a beach party this morning.

Not in the Caribbean, Mediterranean or even a sandy local beach.

But on the roof of the Great John Street Hotel in Manchester.

Yes, summer is sizzling and Sue and Tricia - two fantastic business women - are turning the top of the building into a St Tropez paradise to kindly raise money for our charity.

The BBQ party is on Friday 9th July and everyone is invited to have fun under the sun with cocktails (to help forget about any World Cup sorrows) and loads of entertainment.

Just don't forget the sunscreen (but buckets and spades can be left at home).

For more information about the fun fiesta please contact Stephen Anderson or Emma Hare on tel: 0161 918 7398 or community@christies.org

I missed the England V Algeria game.

But everyone tells me that was a good thing.

It didn’t feel like it at the time when I was waiting at Budapest airport for a very delayed flight home from the Organisation of Cancer Institutes annual conference.

I arrived back at 2.00am Saturday morning.  With a football-depressed passport officer, football-obsessed taxi driver and dark night to welcome me.

But the lovely weekend sunshine helped lift my sleep-deprived spirits. 

Getting me ready for an exciting, action-packed week.

We’re filming a short promotional video tomorrow for a massive pop concert.

Thankfully, no singing or dancing required.  It’s for the MEN Arena’s 15th anniversary concert on 15th July. The concert is in aid of four charities – including us – and we’ve been given the opportunity to promote our charities on the big screen to the 12,000-strong audience.

Riverhorse, a local video production company, is kindly doing the video for free.

I know I’m getting old when I’ve not heard of lots of singers and bands, but I’m told lots of big names in the music world are taking part. And all for a great cause.  Tickets are available one www.realradionorthwest.co.uk  or www.ticketmaster.co.uk 

Just a week after we win the World Cup final of course !

There's no rest in beautiful Budapest.

I'm here for the annual Organisation of European Cancer Institutes conference and after flying in at 2.00am Wednesday night I was up at 7.00am the next morning.

Its lovely seeing so many familiar and friendly faces from when we hosted the conference in Manchester last year.

It was the first time the conference had ever been held in the UK as we were the first hospital to join this prestigious institute in 2007.

Its great to share knowledge and ambitious plans amongst the leading cancer centres across Europe.

But like the current football tournament - our ambitions are also global.

Just before I flew to Hungary I was in London to visit the chief execs of the Teenage Cancer Trust and Royal Marsden.

Simon Davies at the TCT and I discussed really exciting plans to develop world-leading cancer services for young patients. We currently run the second largest young oncology unit in the country - one of only 10 specialist units across the UK - but want to significantly expand and enhance this award-winning facility.

And Cally Palmer and I discussed a number of areas and initiatives which we can work together on.

Cally has been chief exec of the Royal Marsden for 10 years - 5 years longer than I've been here - which is unusual for the NHS (the average is just 3 years). And she is a fantastic and hugely respected operator.

We're the Alex Fergusons and Arsene Wengers of the NHS.

And as they have proved, continuity of leadership can be an important and successful ingredient.

But hopefully England can still win the World Cup with their new manager !

Frustratingly I'll be on a plane back from Budapest when we play Algeria.

But cheering our boys on from the skies.

"I never drink coffee at lunch. I find it keeps me awake for the afternoon."

One of Ronald Reagan’s funny quotes when he was US president.

But, on a serious note, lunch is so often a working affair for the majority of people.

I know it’s important to have a break, but there never seem to be enough hours in the day.

It can be a great working lunch however when you can combine a bite-to-eat with good company.

As we did with our ‘Chairman’s Lunch’ event today.  An opportunity for us to meet with a wide range of high-level and high-profile people and update them on our developments.  Existing and potential supporters who are greatly valued.

We’re also preparing for another important visit next week.

Senior representatives from the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes (OECI) are coming for a two-day visit as part of the audit and review for our accreditation as a comprehensive cancer centre.  The OECI launched the Accreditation Programme in 2002 and we are the first centre in the UK to apply for this accreditation. 

Applicants need to provide a wide range of cancer treatments, undertake research and provide education. And as our stapline say, ‘we care, we discover, we teach’.

This is part of a big strategic plan to be a world-leading comprehensive cancer centre.

Now, where did I put that sandwich ?

Individuals, families, small communities and big societies.

We all have values.

Our own personal values dictate the way we live our lives. Family values are passed through generations. And societies progress and grow through shared values.

They are important for everyone - especially through challenging and changing times.

That's why I place such importance on them at the Christie. A clear set of agreed values that all our staff passionately believe in and work by, with their hearts and their heads.

We've just had an extensive consultation with staff to review our Christie values. The values remain the same, all focussed on delivering the best possible services to patients, but we've reduced our 10 value statements to 8 shorter statements.

They cover team-work and sharing knowledge to ensuring a clean, tidy and safe environment and providing the highest quality care.

All obvious, but so very important. Our staff also want to look smart, celebrate success and listen more than tell.

And to promote our values and the outstanding staff who reflect them in everything they do, we've launched a new  ‘employee of the month’ scheme..

This scheme is to recognise and reward the hard work and dedication of staff. It's also an opportunity for patients, relatives and colleagues to show their appreciation for the care, support or assistance provided.

You can nominate via:
http://www.christie.nhs.uk/employeeofthemonth/default.aspx

Its funny how some things, like our values in life, never change - yet other things, like the internet and social networking, are changing everything about how we live our lives.

We're looking at using Facebook and Twitter more in our communications, as well as developing a strategy to promote Christie developments further in the national media. I met an impressive specialist today who might help us with some of this.

Down-to-earth but on-the-ball which is what I like.

And, incidentally, one of my own personal values.

As a leading cancer centre with the needs of patients at the heart of everything we do, it’s so important that nothing less than 100% is put into all our services and that our high standards never drop.

I read over the weekend that the government now wants all hospitals to publish their rates of infections such as MRSA on a weekly basis.

This is fantastic news and a move that I wholeheartedly support – because it’s something that we’ve been doing here at The Christie for some time anyway and know it works.

I have a weekly meeting with my executive team to review our performance, to look at our patient experiences and to fix any problems.  As everyone is aware our environment is so important here at The Christie and it goes hand in hand with ensuring reduced infection rates.  Our infection rates are minimal, however rest assured it certainly has not made us complacent.

Undergoing treatment for cancer can be one of the most difficult and emotional times of a person’s life and having cancer can also make you particularly vulnerable to infection.  That’s why we are dedicated to reducing the risk of infection. 

Everything we do is to ensure our patients receive the best possible care throughout their journey.

We’ll never stop striving to be ahead of the game.  It’s what our patients deserve.