Around 90 colleagues attended our Reconfiguration-themed Leadership Day at Acre Mills.

Colleagues were told the plans were supported by £196m of investment across both hospitals to improve patient care and outcomes, to improve the environments for patients and colleagues who work at CHFT and to make our Trust a more attractive place to work and to boost recruitment.

Director of Transformation, Anna Basford  said: “These are our plans, your plans. It is one of the largest investment schemes in the NHS – a real opportunity for you to influence how we invest to provide better care in the future at both our hospitals.”

She said it was not just about changing where services are, it was also changing how we will work with a special focus on digital developments. Colleagues were asked for their views on arrival and leaving and they were captured in a word cloud. See our image  electronically and their views on arrival were captured and featured in a word cloud as  a screen in the opening presentation and at the end. See the image.

Nicola Bailey, from the Transformation Team,  said the three consistent main issues going forward would be investment at CRH, investment at HRI and travel and transport into and between the two hospitals.

At CRH the focus will be on more wards and theatres and an expanded A&E, at HRI there will be estates investment for the medium and long-term future of the hospital and in travel and transport it will mean closer working with partners around the A629 corridor (between Halifax and Huddersfield) and options on more parking.

She said: “This is the start of the journey and we need your views and the views of your teams. We need your involvement throughout and there will be ongoing communications and engagement.”

Colleagues from several areas have already been taking part in clinical design workshops and we have also hosted a some events this events for invited members of the public to share their views.

Colleagues also heard from John Knape from a specialist healthcare architects firm which has worked at Kirkwood Hospice as well as hospitals across the country. He said this current design brief phase would develop the physical and technical basis for the future detailed plans.

There were  also group sessions with focus on how we might be working differently in the future.