We’ve finally had confirmation of the date the CQC will be coming to inspect CHFT, and I don’t know about you but I’m pleased we can put some real focus behind all the planning we’ve been doing.

The CQC will be with us on 8 March 2016 for several days. I see this as a real opportunity to showcase what we do well as a Trust, as well as being able to demonstrate where we know we may need to improve in order to support us in our vision of providing safe compassionate care to the people we serve.

I know that there has already been a significant amount of work and planning by the divisions, that actions plans are in place and colleagues are really driven to make sure we are as prepared as we can be. And I thank each and every one of you for that.

There will be plenty of communications happening over the coming months, including colleagues receiving a copy of a handbook attached to their payslips this month. Spare copies will be available on wards and in our community locations, and an electronic version is on the intranet. And our Executive Director of Nursing & Operations, Julie Dawes is planning some more preparation roadshows (dates and times also on the intranet).

It’s important that as individuals working at CHFT we all understand what the CQC will be asking us as a Trust, even if we’re not frontline healthcare professionals.

We’ve also set up a dedicated email address which will be monitored by the Quality Team: cqc.inspection@cht.nhs.uk and we’re making changes to our intranet page which you'll see soon.

The learning we’ll get from this process will be invaluable, if not hard work.

I hope like me, you’ll see it as a positive time for us and our patients.

Owen