One Message
The monthly staff briefing
from the Chief Executive
Preparing the road to success
Dear colleague,
Last month I attended the NHS Confederation
conference in my home town of Liverpool. I
don’t get the opportunity to travel back there
much these days, and what struck me was
the degree to which Liverpool had evolved
into a modern city with impressive dockside
developments and a state-of-the-art conference
centre.
And it wasn’t only the infrastructure that had
changed; the attitude and confidence of the
people in the city had developed too. The taxi
driver who drove me to the Confederation
meeting talked proudly about his NVQ in
customer relations. This visit reinforced my
belief that, in order to foster successful change
you need not only to focus on appearances, you
need also to address how people think and act.
Money matters
Inside the conference, the delegates were all
agreed that the good years for the NHS are
coming to an end and that, like the rest of the
UK economy, the service is going to feel the
financial squeeze.
NHS Confederation Chief Executive Steve
Barnett warned that, “services must start
planning now and make investments while they
still have the funding.” Above all, he argued, they
must avoid the mistake of previous downturns
of “salami-slicing”, pruning across the board to
balance the books. He concluded, “that’s the
wrong approach. This must be clinically-led and
Our values + Treat all must be really strongly focused on quality and
people with respect and innovation.”
dignity + Deliver care in
I have gone on record as saying that I am
partnership with others confident that St George’s is well placed to
+ Continually strive for weather the financial storm ahead, but that
excellence + Ensure doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be prepared for
probity and transparency some choppy waters.
in spending public money Staying ahead of the game
+ Be an exemplary
”By failing to prepare you are preparing
employer + Be committed
to fail,” so said Dr Benjamin Franklin who,
to education, training and in common with St George’s, had much to
research + Be open and keep him occupied. Considered the father of
honest with each other electricity, through his inventions, writings, and
extensive activities as a printer, philosopher
and more, Franklin helped advance the Age
July 2009
of Enlightenment. If that wasn’t enough, as a
key founder of the United States, he is the only
statesman to have signed all four documents
that created a new nation.
Franklin certainly didn’t succeed by failing
to plan ahead and at St George’s we are also
working to be ahead of the game. We are
transforming the way we work in order to
deliver higher quality patient care to meet the
standards expected in a modern health service.
Green light for iCLIP
In order to deliver higher standards of patient
care, we must update our IT systems. The
Integrated Clinical Information Programme
(iCLIP) is St George’s version of the National
Programme for IT which will introduce new
clinical IT systems and services, accessible to
healthcare professionals across England.
Originally planned to be rolled out at St George’s
in November 2008, the implementation of iCLIP
was delayed at the request of the Department of
Health.
The scope of the iCLIP programme has changed
significantly since the first business case was
approved by the Trust board in 2007. As a
result a new business case was presented to the
board’s May meeting where a ‘go-live’ date of
Monday 21 December 2009 was approved.
The overall objectives for iCLIP remain broadly as
they were in 2007:
 To improve the quality of care by
enabling standards to be implemented
across the Trust and its partner networks
 To improve patient experience at all
stages of care as described in the NHS
Plan
The implementation will be done in such a
way as to minimise risk and inconvenience
for patients and staff. Learning from the
experiences of others, the Trust has decided
to reduce the scope of the first deployment to
include only the administration elements of
our current PAS, an integrated A&E system and
a data warehouse. The Trust will then look to
 introduce new theatre management systems in
spring 2010, followed by an ITU solution, then
a new Path system and electronic ordering
capability later in the year.
This is a long-term programme which will see
significant changes to the way we treat our
patients. Implementing systems such as iCLIP
can make a substantial difference to patient
outcomes. The success of this project lies with
good clinical engagement and Stephen Nussey,
clinical lead for IT, will be working closely with
the new divisional chairs to ensure we get this
right.
Building future foundations
The implementation of iCLIP will support the
information system requirements for the Trust’s
Foundation Trust (FT) application.
NHS Foundation Trusts are a new type of NHS
Trust created to devolve decision-making
from central government control to local
organisations and communities so they are
more responsive to the needs and wishes of
their local people.
FTs have members drawn from patients,
the public and staff, and are governed by a
Board of Governors, elected from and by the
membership base. FTs remain part of the NHS
and are overseen by an independent regulator
called Monitor.
As the major acute hospital for south west
London, St George’s has a key role to play
in ensuring that healthcare services in the
area meet the needs of the local population.
FT status will ensure that St George’s is able
to shape its own future rather than simply
responding to the actions of others in the
health system.
For St George’s, financial viability is a key area in
which we must deliver. The Trust’s business plan,
transformation programme and introduction
of iCLIP are all supporting our plan to control
spending and deliver surpluses which can then
Our values + Treat all be re-invested in services.
people with respect and
Our aim is to provide cost effective quality
dignity + Deliver care in
services which maintain and improve on the
partnership with others clinical excellence for which we are renowned,
+ Continually strive for and ensure a positive patient experience.
excellence + Ensure
probity and transparency Changes to the way divisions are structured and
clinical services are managed are also part of St
in spending public money George’s preparation for applying for FT status.
+ Be an exemplary The creation of the role of divisional chairs
employer + Be committed aims to give clinicians greater involvement and
to education, training and accountability for service delivery.
research + Be open and If we get this right then we will be well on
honest with each other course to succeed in our application for FT
status expected to be in spring 2011.
Managing the here and now
While we make our plans for the future we
must also pay attention to the present. Swine
flu is an issue of growing concern across the
UK. The Trust has been actively preparing for
increasing numbers of swine flu cases and has
in place special infection control procedures for
all staff, especially those caring for patients with
suspected or confirmed swine flu.
Advice is available on the intranet in the
Guidelines for Managing Patients with
Suspected Swine Influenza. In addition, there is
also guidance available for line managers about
what to do if a member of their staff believes
they have swine flu.
General hygiene can help to reduce
transmission of all viruses and advice includes:
 Covering your nose and mouth when
coughing or sneezing, using a tissue
when possible
 Disposing of dirty tissues promptly and
carefully
 Maintaining good basic hygiene, for
example, washing hands frequently with
soap and water to reduce the spread of
the virus from your hands to your face or
to other people
 Cleaning hard surfaces (such as door
handles) frequently using a normal
cleaning product
Celebrating success
The Trust’s values that appear down the
side of each issue of One Message go to the
heart of what St George’s strives to be as an
organisation and employer.
Treating people with respect and dignity is
among our values and I am delighted to report
that the Trust, working in partnership with
Staffside, has been successful in bidding for
a grant of £100,000 from the NHS London
Partnership.
This funding will be used to help develop the
service structure at St George’s. A programme
of work, aimed at staff in bands 1-4, will create
a culture of improvement in which staff will feel
respected and valued, supported in doing a
good job and contributing by providing better
service for patients, visitors and colleagues.
Well done to all of those involved in this
successful bid. I look forward to telling staff
about some of the outcomes of the programme
in the months to come.
David Astley
Chief Executive