Newsroom
T is for Two-way communication…and Trust
My recent blogs have focussed on our values and the behaviours we promote to make them live and breathe in our organisation every day.
Two-way communications sounds easy, but sometimes we find it really difficult to achieve this on an organisation-wide scale where we have more than 3,000 people to have a conversation with. But it is something I am absolutely committed to. That’s why I write my blog, go on Twitter and Facebook and walk the wards and speak to people. Because we need to make it easy to explain to people what is going on, but also to listen to how we can improve things for patients or make things better for staff.
But we don’t always get it right or communicate effectively every time. I am well aware of the depth of feeling that has been generated around car parking charging recently, especially for staff. I have been hearing your stories and viewpoints on this subject everywhere I’ve been. I have met with angry staff in a packed committee room and heard some forthright opinions, and I have also engaged on Twitter and Facebook. It is right that views are made clear but equally we need to ensure that our other values of respect and courtesy are observed in getting our points across.
While we did discuss the proposed changes with the staff travel group and the Unions, and did try to take on board suggestions, maybe more could have been done to discuss with staff. We knew raising charges would not go down well and that it may feel like your employer just made it harder for you to come to work at a time when money is tight and I am genuinely sorry for this.
I do feel staff are hard working and amazing. I hope you know this. In an ideal world staff and patients would not have to pay for parking, however, parking has been a problem at our hospital for some time and staff have regularly raised this with me. We have taken action and spent £2m on creating 400 new extra spaces. We have done this when money is tight for the hospital. We are in financial deficit and likely to end the year with a deficit of £12m, which is £7m worse than planned. We need to pay for this investment.
That is why we are raising prices by around 30% for all staff groups based on the prices before we introduced number plate recognition. All the money raised pays for the extra spaces and staff on the wards. But it is clear that that we did not explain adequately that there had been a two year discount on charges while the new barrier system was installed.
Equally, at the time the building work began on the new car park we could have set an expectation that charges would rise in the future to cover some of the capital investment the Trust has made in new facilities. We should have done more to communicate this.
We are listening though. We are looking at extending the opening of the rugby club car park and exploring different methods of charging which are more sensitive to those working long day shifts. We will also improve the communications we provide in this sensitive area. When we have finalised what we can do we will let you know.
However, we all need to understand that the decisions are not going to get easier. The NHS is under tremendous pressure at the moment. We must all play a part in trying to save money, cut waste and inefficiency, and by supporting initiatives such as red to green where we are working hard to ensure we have a safe hospital with patients staying only for the length of time they really, really need to.
So two-way communication is something that needs to be worked on, and we don’t always get it right. Yet I believe if we don’t get it right we must not give up on our values but try harder to meet them. So please continue to tell me what you think about all aspects of hospital life and how you are taking action to improve things. I am listening – albeit sometimes wearing body armour under my jacket!
With best wishes
Steve Dunn, chief executive
Back to Newsroom