Seek forgiveness,not permission

When I’m out and about visiting teams, I’m always struck by the fact you feel that you don’t have permission to take your bright ideas forward.

It puzzles me, as I’m not sure why people feel they need permission to make improvements they think will make things better. At the end of the day, you know your services better than I do.

And I always think its better to ‘seek forgiveness, not permission’ and to trust in people to do the right thing. The role of the Board, clinical and professional leaders and managers then becomes one of encouraging this approach and providing air cover to those brave enough to try new things.

Of course we can’t be reckless or irresponsible. We do need to respect that many protocols and processes are there to keep people safe.

But its about knowing when to push the boundaries or not wait for approval to do the things you need to do in order to make things better. We trust you with people’s lives, so we should trust your judgment when it comes to making changes.

This is exactly what two of our new values are about; ingenuity and determination. And this is how we build an innovative culture.

So, the next time you're on the fence, wondering whether to take a small, considered risk that could propel things forward – just do it.

And, if it doesn’t work out, then I’m sure we’ll all agree that an ‘oops’ is better than a ‘what if’ and we should use our Just Culture approach to learn from this.

Because small mistakes can be corrected and creating a culture of ‘seek forgiveness, not permission’ can empower a workforce. What’s the point in having lots of fab ideas if we aren’t able to put them into action?

Ingenuity is a solution to so many problems and its often not about money. The ability to balance creativity with canny use of resources is at the heart of so many of your ideas.

You are an ingenuous group of impressive people, but we’ve not yet managed to create the right environment to nurture this consistently. Many of you feel ‘the organisation’ won’t have your back and that you will be questioned and criticised.

We want to be a continuously improving organisation, where we value ideas and that’s why we’re putting a lot of effort into supporting and developing an all encompassing improvement approach.

At our board development session this week it was brilliant hearing how we’ve recruited 15 people with lived experiences of mental health to work with us on different improvement projects.

We’re also developing a clinically-led improvement team, and teams will be able to bid for money to take forward ideas that need a small amount of funding. A ‘dragon’s den’ style approach, but much less stressful and dramatic than the TV show!

A new improvement academy will offer different levels of training in improvement methodologies, and our #MakeOneChange initiative will encourage everyone to think about the small things we can very quickly do to keep making things better. Small changes eventually add up to huge results.

The plan is to weave improvement across absolutely everything, from the tweaks to the major transformational pieces already in place such as the integrated mental health programme and informatics.

We’ll be launching our long-term improvement campaign in the autumn to bring this to life and inspire, celebrate and share your stories and successes.

Let’s not forget also, that our fairly recently introduced Just Culture approach goes hand in hand with improvement. Our values of ingenuity and determination will feed an improvement culture, and our kindness and fairness values underpin a Just Culture where we steer away from blame.

Our patient safety lead Matt Walsh spoke recently at a national conference (well done Matt) and said, ‘If we want Just Culture to mean something more than simply political glitter, we have to put the effort into polishing our approach until it truly shines’.

If everyone feels the outcome, then it’ll have lustre – meaning a deeper and more lasting legacy than simply shining for a short time.

So true, and exactly the same goes for an environment that enables ideas to happen.

We’ve got a way to go, as these things take time and effort. But every time I visit teams I’m inspired by the abundance of amazing qualities you have and the incredible results we can achieve by supporting you to maximise this huge potential.

I visited Orchard House day hospital in Oldham last week and spent time talking to the service manager Liz, and occupational therapists, Donna and Marie. I was bowled over by their passion and commitment and what they’re doing to champion their profession; because they see the huge value and contribution of what they do for our patients and organisation. We had such a good chat, particularly in light of our new emerging strategy, about the significant role the profession can play.

It was also heart-warming to hear about the Pretty Muddy 5k efforts and determination of our Taylor ward team this weekend. The Tameside ward was named after their colleague Martin Taylor who sadly died from cancer in 2010 and the pink T-shirt group braved the mud to raise £1400 for cancer research.

You are awesome and we want to help you do awesome things. So, I would encourage us all to stay constantly curious and if you have a small change you want to make, crack on and do it.

Hasta luego and a cup of awesomeness

It’s been a difficult couple of weeks. There’s been change and loss and it’s come in very different ways

We’ve said goodbye to many of our colleagues as they’ve left to join the Northern Care Alliance. I know this transfer is a positive opportunity and the best thing to do for patients, but it’s impossible not to feel sad at saying farewell.

I like to think it’s more ‘Hasta luego’ than ‘Adios’, which the Spanish say when they are likely to see someone again or cross paths in some way. It’s still hard not to feel a bit wobbly when you hear about some of the wonderful send-offs people have given in our boroughs and within teams.

There have been cards, cakes, pizzas, balloons, gifts and songs.  We’ve also had ‘cups of awesomeness’ presented as gifts and rapping farewells with guitars.

And then two days ago we said a heart-breaking goodbye to Phil Cheetham, a truly special and wonderful man.

The large church was absolutely packed for his funeral, a measure of how loved and popular Phil was. He brought the best out of people and the sheer number of his work colleagues attending the church service reflected the huge contribution he made to Pennine Care in the 15 years he worked here.  He has had an immense impact on everyone who was lucky enough to know him.

As we said in our eulogy; if Carlsberg did work colleagues, then Phil would probably be the best colleague in the world. One of the musical pieces played during the service was Handel’s ‘See, the conqu’ring hero come’. What a fitting piece of music for Phil. He conquered with kindness, humility and humour. He had huge integrity and inspired us all with his positivity and calm determination. He was very much a hero, albeit a quiet one. It was an honour to work with him and we will miss him greatly.

I know the incredibly ambitious timescales for this first transfer of staff, and the sudden death of a colleague, has left many reeling as well as feeling depleted. Some teams have not only had to put in a huge amount of effort to manage the transfer, but have been directly affected by it.

You have been so professional in managing your anxieties and feelings, whilst cracking on with work. I am so appreciative of your commitment in doing so.

We’re still on a journey, as we’ve got more transfers taking place later this year, but taking some time to recoup and reset is important. So, put yourself at the top of your next to-do list. Whether it’s doing something fun with family or friends, watching an entire season of television in one weekend or exercise. Whatever soothes the soul.

As we launched our new values yesterday, I can’t help but reflect on just how meaningful they are right now. There’s a quote from Bernie Sanders, the American politician which says, ‘Difficult times often bring out the best in people’.  And I’ve definitely seen so many examples during the last tough few weeks of our values being lived in all their glory.

I’ve seen kindness in people supporting others who have felt overwhelmed with work, worried about change or facing looming deadlines. I’ve also seen kindness between colleagues united in grief at the loss of Phil.

There’s also been fairness demonstrated throughout the transfer process, with people trying to be as inclusive and open as possible, as well as even-handed with decisions. And with that, reassuring others there is no hidden agenda or secret plan.

I’ve heard about great ingenuity in how teams have juggled capacity issues with workloads and gaps. There’s also been wonderful ingenuity in creative send-offs for colleagues, which couldn’t fail to make someone feel special.

And, your determination in the continuous provision of high-quality services amidst all the change has been tremendous. I stand in awe.

You are already living and breathing these values. They’re not a collection of four good words we think people will like; they represent the essence of our organisation.

They’ve come from you because they reflect who you are, what you stand for and how you act. So I know they will continue to serve as a guiding light in everything we do.

Best wishes,
Claire