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It’s goodbye, and thank you, from me

Chris Bown

Chris Bown Today (Friday 10 January) marked the last day of our interim Chief Executive, Chris Bown, at our Trust.

"The 15 months I’ve spent at our Trust has flown by, and while there have been significant challenges, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with you all. I often find that when faced with a tough job, it’s the people you work with who make it doable, and that’s definitely the case here, so I thank all of you for that.

I’d particularly like to thank our leadership team, our Chair Joe Fielder, and our non-executive directors, for their support. I’m so pleased that as I finish my time here, the CQC has rated our Trust as being ‘good’ for well led, in addition to being good in the effective and caring domains.

Of course, you and I know there’s still so much to do. I’m confident that your new interim Chief Executive, Tony Chambers, will help to build on the work you’ve done to continue to improve services for our patients.

One thing we know plays a big part in well cared for patients, is happy and engaged staff, which is why I’m delighted to see such a high response rate to our most recent staff survey – 56.9 per cent compared to 45.7 per cent the previous year. This equates to around 800 more of you filling it in this time around. It’s a real positive step forward.

Those of you who have been around for a while will know our Trust has been known as being ‘challenged’, a reputation built up over previous decades. This meant that when Sir David Sloman, NHS Regional Director for London, recently visited us he was expecting chaos.

However, I’m proud to say that you showed him the real truth, and he’s since praised you for your professionalism, calm, and focus on patient safety, at a national level. He even went as far as to say that we should be seen as a positive example to other trusts.

You’ve also worked hard to improve our relationships with our external partners, and I’ve received lots of positive feedback about this. Do not underestimate the significant impact this can have on improving care for our patients.

I’ve worked in the NHS for over 30 years and this has been one of my tougher jobs (and I started out in the army!), however, it’s also been one of the most enjoyable, and that’s down to all of you.

I will miss being here, however, I’ll be pleased to spend more time with my wife and daughters at home in Worcestershire. My tenure here was due to end last summer, however, I decided to stay as I wanted to support our Trust until a replacement could be found, so I’m really pleased that Tony is in post to continue to lead our Trust forward."

Chris Bown, interim Chief Executive

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