Inside Royal Blackburn Hospital:‘The future’s bright’ (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Inside Royal Blackburn Hospital:‘The future’s bright’

4:07pm Monday 27th October 2008 in Health By Camilla Sutcliffe

AS criticism of hospital care in East Lancashire continues, it could be seen by many as a bold move by bosses to open up the wards to the local paper.

But Marie Burnham, who has been chief executive of East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust since July this year, said her complete confidence in the hospital meant she had no fears about inviting the Lancashire Telegraph to take a look inside.

Miss Burnham has made her presence felt in just four months at the helm, with new management structures, big efforts to improve staff morale, and extra beds to ease pressures on the emergency department and medical wards.

She said: “I’m very proud of the Royal Blackburn, as well as Burnley General, Pendle Community and the Rossendale Hospital. What they have all done and achieved in the past few months is phenomenal, and we have some exciting times ahead.

“I wanted people to see first-hand what the hospitals are like, because that way patients and staff can give their honest opinions, which to me is so much more important than any management bluff.

“Getting the message out about all the brilliant things our hospitals are doing is great for staff as well.

“Their morale has been a big issue. Staff have gone through radical changes but by really promoting what they do, they can get the recognition they deserve for that.

“I’m really impressed by what they do, but to them it is their day-to-day job, and either they don’t promote themselves because of modesty and embarassment or they simply don’t see how special they really are.

“We need everyone to get over that and see just what great places East Lancashire Hospitals are.”

Life for patients has also been improving, with falling infection rates and waiting times, but Miss Burnham said there was still a long way to go in making sure each had the best possible experience – and feedback from those patients was vital.

She said: “We’ve still got to get patient experience right, by improving their journeys through the hospital and responding to what people tell us, but overall our care, as the Healthcare Commission said last week, is excellent. To improve those experiences, we need to engage the community more, so they can be part of making the improvements, and really take pride in their hospital.

“I’m ambitious and I’ve got big plans. I’m confident we will achieve foundation trust status soon, and I want us to become a university hospital too, but a good trust never loses sight of the people it serves.

“The reason foundation status is so important is that it gives members of the public those opportunities to have their say and make a real difference to how we do things. Of course, we want as many people as possible to become part of our foundation trust, but whether people are a member or not, we want to hear from them, whether their views are positive or negative.

“We can use that information to make great community hospitals even better.”