Mark Newbold
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Comments (18)
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Comment on: Chief executives are running scared
Fascinating article, thanks, with many points worthy of detailed discussion. For instance, the phrase 'fear of failure' is an interesting one to reflect on. What is 'failure'? Officially, 'failure' means not achieving obligatory targets, and I have argued elsewhere that this feels like a very narrow and arbitrary definition of failure, and one that doesn't any longer chime with the views the public would have on the matter. One can hit 4hrs, or 2 weeks, or 18 weeks, but still provide disrespectful care to the elderly, or oversee poor clinical outcomes or high mortality rates - I think that is failure but it would not be defined as such currently. I'm not sure that 'fear' is the right noun either. A CEO knows for certain that they must achieve the targets, or certain regulatory consequences will follow. The Board is similarly aware. There are few choices to be made, they are 'must do's' and so it is pragmatism rather than fear which drives CEO's and Boards to prioritise these I think? I believe that ceasing the 'shouting loudly' approach will lead to more local innovation and more adventurous attempts by Boards to genuinely prioritise what is important in the communities they serve. We would see some real successes in important areas, but we would also see lesser performance in some current priorities too. Wouldn't this be a price worth paying? We are defining success and failure wrongly - access is not the priority now, care quality is. Lets change this, and recognise too that in fact it is fear of failure centrally that is holding us back. Allow local to trump national, and then we will see how innovative we can all be?
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Comment on: Nicholson argues he should survive to implement Mid Staffs recommendations
Anon just above (1:39) - well said, wise words for a youngster. Whoever you are we need more of you!
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Comment on: Chief executive resigns at Midlands trust
Really sorry to read this Julia. North Staffs could not have had a more committed and hard-working CEO and you have many achievements to look back on with pride. Very best wishes in the future, Mark
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Comment on: Chief executives not confident on out-of-hours safety
Im not surprised by the findings re out of hours safety, because this is what the evidence tells us. All CEO's will know this. I'd be more interested to hear from those who feel their services ARE equally safe at all hours, because I haven't seen any evidence from anywhere that this is the case. We did some work unpicking our SHMI rates (which are average overall) and found many spikes and dips related to several factors, such as time of day day of week, specialty, and degree of escalation. It is complex and the issues are likely to differ between hospitals, and between specialties?
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Comment on: Heart of England changes ward leaders after CQC visit
In my (original) article I was describing our own reflections as a team on why we had the issue on this ward. Our nursing staff offered the view that care of the elderly requires specialist skills that are not always found in nurses trained for other types of medical care, and we felt this might have been a contributory factor. Accordingly we have introduced some further training to try and help staff to improve the care they provide. Hope this clarifies?
