Chief Executive Fortnightly Blog to NHS Orkney Staff - 10 March 2025
Message for All NHSO Staff
Morning all
Happy Monday!
We have talked a lot in recent months about the importance of celebrating our wins, successes and achievements, recognising it can at times be all too easy to focus on where we need to do better and improve, and of course there must be a balance.
And this last week we have lots of celebrate – not least our 42 colleagues and teams who have been shortlisted for our Team Orkney Awards and been recognised for their outstanding work and contributions by our patients, community, and peers. There is no higher praise. Well done to everyone who was shortlisted and nominated. I look forward to the awards evening on 28 March and celebrating Team Orkney’s incredible people.
I also want to give a big shout out to our Maternity Team who have been highly commended by the judges of the UK wide Green Maternity Challenge and the Royal College of Midwives for the outstanding work we are doing in Orkney around Green Maternity, which is seeing NHS Orkney transforming newborn hip dysplasia care by introducing ultrasound screening and eliminating the need for travel to Aberdeen. This is improving patient access, reducing stress for new parents and reduces travel emissions. NHS Orkney was the only Board in Scotland to be represented and be recognised – which is just incredible. The judges said of NHS Orkney’s work: “ It was a brilliant presentation and your passion and drive to improve services for women and families in NHS Orkney shone through,” adding “rural care is often overlooked, but this project has made a massive difference for these families. The voices of service users have truly driven this initiative and we’re excited to see what comes next.”
There are lots of wins (big and small) every week that signal progress – and I want us to share these more often with each other so that every Friday we can summarise in our all staff internal bulletin to you ‘our wins of the week.’ You can send these to our Communications Team.
Finally – I wanted to let you know that we have started a Clinical Services Review to help us consider the way our clinical services are delivered in both hospital and community settings moving forward. The review was discussed and approved by our Senior Leadership Team and Improvement Board, and shared at our February Health Board meeting. It is funded by the Scottish Government as part of our ongoing support under the NHS Support and Intervention Framework and I have personally commissioned this piece of work to help us to identify transformational opportunities that will support NHS Orkney’s ongoing improvement journey. Sam, Anna and Louise as our three Clinical Executive Directors are owning this work, which aims to find ways to further improve the quality of care we deliver to our community and ensure our services remain sustainable, efficient and affordable.
To support this work, we have invited two experienced NHS leaders - Dr Jennifer Armstrong (former Medical Director, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde) and Fiona McKay (former Director of Planning, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde) - to spend time on-site in the weeks to come.
As an Executive Team we see this as a real chance to shape how we deliver care, both now and in the years ahead. Our focus is on developing a clear clinical vision, and ultimately one that further improves patient care and experience, supports our staff, and helps us address our financial challenges. We will be sharing regular updates - including through our Clinical Advisory Groups – as this work progresses over the next 3 - 4 months. Please do contact Sam, Anna or Louise directly if you wish to discuss further in the meantime, or get involved and have your say – we want to hear from as many colleagues as possible, including of course our clinical community.
Have a great week everyone. I’ll leave you with this quote:
“Acknowledge all of your small victories. They will eventually add up to something great.” – Kara Goucher
Best wishes
Laura Skaife-Knight
CEO
