New Chief Executive for the West Suffolk Hospital

Hot off the press this morning is the announcement that Stephen Dunn, pictured here, is to become the new Chief Executive of the West Suffolk Hospital.

A local man, who lives near Bury St Edmunds, he fought off keen competition from elsewhere, to secure the role for which he seems very well suited.  Dr Dunn has a PhD in Economics and has held a number of leading roles in the Midlands and the East of England in the National Health Service and in H.M. Treasury.

Dr Dunn will start work in November.   He will arrive at a challenging time for the hospital, as the financial environment is as difficult in the Health Service as it is elsewhere.  Top of the agenda from the perspective of the County Council, is the hospital's active participation in Health and Adult Social Care integration, which, if it can be achieved should, both save money and meet every growing demand from Suffolk's ageing population.

Care at Home

My mother in law, Pauline, who is over 80, had a fall this week, and was obliged to visit the Accident and Emergency Department at the West Suffolk Hospital.  The outcome was not too bad, but she has cracked a bone in her arm and will have to wear a sling for a few weeks.  In the old days Pauline would probably have been taken in to hospital, at least for a few days.  It is a sign of the times that she was in fact home again within a few hours and now has carers, arranged by the hospital, coming in morning and evening to help her out.  (I am happy to say that she was very pleased with the service that she received at the hospital.)

My mother in law’s experience is not unusual.  Hospital beds are at a premium and funding for public services generally is limited to say the least.  Councils and the NHS have realised that it is much better to look after people in their own homes as far as possible.  Patients generally prefer it, and in general it is a more cost effective solution for the organisations involved.

The same applies to those who need longer term care; better to support them in their own homes than to assume that a care home is the short term rather than a possible long term solution.

Caring for people at home is a huge topic and means a totally different way of working for both the County Council and for the National Health Service.  Importantly it is a function that neither organisation can fulfil alone, and therefore co-operation between the health and care services is vital.   

In my Mother in Law’s case the system worked well.   This is not always the case however, and getting it right in all circumstances is a challenge.

The Health and Adult Care Policy Group that I chair at the County Council will be looking at the whole subject of ‘Care at Home’ over the next few months.  At the end of last year the council undertook a wide consultation on the issues involved among care users, carers and care providers. The panel will be looking at the results of this to see how services can be better designed.  We will also be looking at how the community at large can be encouraged to help those at home, how housing might be adapted, and how those who need care can fund it.  I am sure that other topics will also arise in the course of discussion.

Any feedback from readers of this site will be much appreciated!

West Suffolk Hospital Annual General Meeting

I went to the AGM of the West Suffolk Hospital yesterday evening.  It was held at the Apex and was well attended by members of the public.

I have been appointed by the County Council as their representative Governor, and this was the first official event that I have attended.

It was good to learn from the Chief Executive that the hospital is ‘one of the best in the region’ when it comes to Clinical Care Commission Reports.  It is also encouraging that mortality rates are low.  Last year however there were some issues during the winter period with regard to the performance of Accident and Emergency and measures have been put in place to improve this.

A major cause for concern is that after Norfolk, Suffolk has the oldest population in the Country. The implications of this demographic situation are compounded by the fact that for the first time ever the NHS is faced with frozen budgets.  The management of the hospital sees the answer in developing new ways of working both internally and with partners.  One of the major partners is of course the County Council.  It is in improving the connections between the hospital service and care in the community provided by the Council that better value for money and better outcomes for people can be achieved.

As a glimpse into the near future, we heard about ‘tele-consultations’ where Skype and other media are used to ‘see’ patients at home with the aim of dealing with patient problems remotely.   In Airedale, where such methods are already being used, a 47% reduction in admissions to A and E has been recorded, and there has been less need for patients to travel to hospital to see consultants. Having been obliged to shuttle backwards and forwards to hospital appointments myself in the recent past, such developments sound encouraging, and will particularly help those who have transport problems.

The Chief Executive was followed by an interesting presentation by the hospital’s Dementia Team.  They demonstrated how efforts are being made to make the hospital more user friendly for the increasing number of patients suffering from the condition.  Apparently 1 in 3 people over 65 will develop Dementia before they die....a frightening statistic.

I don’t think that running a hospital is easy, particularly in the current environment, but the meeting gave the impression that the West Suffolk is doing reasonably well.  I am looking forward to understanding more about how it functions….its performance is a matter close to the heart for many of us.