I must start this week by acknowledging the Government’s announcement on Monday about the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in England. As you will know from previous points in time when restrictions have been eased, the NHS has still had to operate under stricter conditions. We have not yet received any guidance so  we are asking our colleagues to continue to operate at work as they have been (mask wearing, social distancing, appropriate PPE and infection prevention control measures etc.). As soon as we know more we will ensure this is communicated across the organisation. I want to say I am really grateful to each and everyone of our colleagues for continuing to put the safety of our patients and colleagues first.

Last week I was privileged to open our LEAP Programme, our second cohort of the programme that has seen 60 colleagues participate so far. The LEAP Programme is run through our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team and provides specific leadership training for ethnic minority colleagues. There has been positive feedback about the programme so far and I was pleased that our People and Culture Committee agreed to support a further roll out of LEAP across the Trust.

Monday was Mental Health Nurses Day, celebrating the important work and contribution of mental health nurses across the NHS and beyond. It was great to see so many colleagues sharing their experiences across social media and I was interested to hear more from our colleagues Suzanne Sutton and Emma Horne about their journeys into mental health nursing. You are all making such an important impact for our patients and their loved ones, thank you.

I am delighted that NELFT has received the Gold Award from Stonewall for its commitment to inclusion of lesbian, gay, bi, trans and queer people in the workplace. We have made it into the Top 100 Employers List which is a huge achievement and improvement, and we are ranked in the Top 10 for the health and social care sector. I would like to thank Rachel Forrest, Lee Chester and our LGBT+ staff network for all their dedication and support. You can read more about the Gold Award here. Stonewall Gold Employer

Yesterday we held our Board Strategy Session, this is a regular meeting where our Executive and Non-Executive Directors come together to discuss key Trust priorities and to hear from colleagues across the Trust. We received a presentation from Dr Bini Thomas presenting the impacts of the pandemic on our service users with learning disabilities. It has clearly been a challenging time people who use services but it was positive to hear about how the services are adapting and finding new ways to work through some of the challenges in order to deliver the best possible care.

We also received an update from Wellington Makala, our Chief Nurse and Executive Director for AHPs and Psychological Professions, about all the work our colleagues have been doing in preparation for our next CQC inspection. As you know we don’t have a date for this yet, but we have been working hard to ensure all the improvements colleagues have been making to services have been captured and shared. As a learning organisation, focused on quality improvement and the development of a just and compassionate culture, I am so proud of the progress we have made, and continue to make, to ensure we are delivering the best possible care to our patients and their loved ones.

Take care and stay safe.

Jacqui