Chief Executive Fortnightly Blog to NHS Orkney Staff - 7 April 2025

Message for All NHSO Staff 

Dear All

I hope you are well. Now the clocks have changed, what a difference it makes to have longer days and more day light. Spring is well and truly here and I look forward to the coming months – hopefully this better weather continues.

Last week marked two years since I joined NHS Orkney as CEO and what a two years it’s been.

I wanted to share some of my reflections with you:

• Team Orkney (you) work incredibly hard every day to provide the best possible care to our patients and community
• We have a special relationship with our community because of our role as an anchor organisation and as one of the biggest employers here – and we cherish this relationship
• At the heart of the work we are doing, is putting people first in all we do. We are committed to continuing to reconnect in meaningful ways with our community, partners and staff – and can evidence good progress
• We have started a continuous improvement journey and many of the foundations that are necessary are now in place or falling into place – including stability of leadership, strengthened approach to risk management and governance, a new culture programme and operational and financial grip and control
• Central to our improvement journey is our Corporate Strategy which sets out our promise to our community and our exciting and suitably ambitious future – and how we will consistently look after our community and provide excellent care. This is our ‘compass’ and has given us a focus
• We know where our main challenges are and our Year 2 (2025/26) priorities set out how we will address these – this includes areas such as reducing our waiting times, becoming a financially sustainable organisation, and improving in critical areas such as appraisals, mandatory training and sickness absence
• When we work together, we can achieve incredible things for our patients, community and each other

Our future is a bright one and that is because we have amazing people doing amazing things every day for our patients and community. There is a real sense of pride in being part of NHS Orkney and Team Orkney – and I see this by the bucketload every single day. I am proud to lead this wonderful organisation and look forward to building on our progress of the last few years and taking further steps forward that improve care and services for our community and improve the experience of our staff in the years to come.

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” – Henry Ford

Best wishes

Laura Skaife-Knight

CEO