Publish date: 23 March 2022
Project manager Ron Todd tells us more about his role working on the Beyond Outstanding programme
I’ve worked at the trust for more than a decade, joining initially as an Operations Services Manager in surgery and then as a transformation manager.
I’ve got a long history in the NHS having also worked at Sunderland Hospitals and the NHS Business Services Authority, which scarily adds up to over 30 years.
I’ve just moved across to a new role supporting the Beyond Outstanding programme which is exploring the delivery of high value and difficult projects while working alongside improvement experts.
As a trust we have an ambition to continually improve and reach ‘Beyond Outstanding,’ which is why we have put support in place to look at how we make positive changes and improvements.
The programme is ambitious and designed to help us work differently and better – not more and harder – in a way that improves things for staff and patients.
Building on the outstanding services already on offer across Northumbria we’re looking at a number of initiatives supported by a central team offering expertise in key areas.
Wave 1 has focused on finance, procurement, human resources and contact centres and we have already seen some success including a 50% reduction in avoidable clinic cancellations and 500 hours of staff time saved by reducing duplication.
We are now ramping up wave 2 initiatives which will move at pace throughout 2022, including community services, elective care and transport. How we scale things up to realise the benefits will be critical to further success.
There’s a huge amount of fantastic work going on across the trust and supporting some of that provides a lot of satisfaction. The range of people and projects involved keeps things really interesting but it’s the times where people have successfully delivered changes and improvements which really stand out to me.
We know that finding ways to improve things can be challenging (if it was easy someone would have done it already). The willingness to be curious, try new things, think differently, develop ideas and continually looking to improve makes a real difference.
To find out more about the Beyond Outstanding work click here