Board Meeting Agenda July 2012 - Birmingham Children's Hospital

Ref. Item Action
presenting the awards.
On Thursday KL will be presenting awards at the Bands 1-4 Tea Party Graduation
Ceremony.
KL expressed his gratitude to the other non-executive directors for their continued
support in Joanna Davis’s absence. It is particularly sad that JD is unable to attend
the events this week and all at BCH miss her energy and enthusiasm.
The Board noted the verbal report.
There were no questions from the Public.
12.084 Chief Executive’s Report
The Chief Executive reported verbally as follows:
• It is fantastic to be holding a Board meeting during our 150 th birthday week,
the focus of which is to say a big thank you to staff. There are various events
during the week, including pampering sessions, which so far are proving very
popular. Over 800 staff have booked on an event.
We have had positive media coverage of the celebrations from ITV and the
Birmingham Mail, and the BBC is recording several interviews in order to
screen a lengthy piece on Friday.
• On 25 May we were visited by the Prime Minister, David Cameron who chose
BCH as the location for his announcement about the national roll-out of the
Friends and Family Test from April 2013, which has already been launched
across the Midlands and the East Cluster. Mr Cameron had heard about our
pioneering work on patient experience, including the Friends and Family app
we have developed.
Mr Cameron spent 2 hours visiting wards, talking to patients and staff and
getting involved with things like taking blood pressure and helping children
order meals with the Maple system. He also met with a group of lead nurses,
discussing cultural leadership issues and how nurses fit into the organisation.
He was particularly interested in Safe and Sustainable, the way we are
managing the financial situation and the prominence that MM Chief Nurse
has in the Trust. He remarked as he was leaving that this was the busiest
Children’s Hospital he had visited. The visit was covered positively in the
media.
• We had another high profile visit in May from Earl Howe who was interested
in our research into paediatric rare diseases. Many children with these
diseases only make it to early adulthood, so it is vital that research is done
during childhood, and he was interested in how this can be developed. He
visited the CRF and MRI scanner, and we explained some of the special work
the Trust has done, such as the development of special diet food packets by
Anita McDonald which have proved invaluable for many families, especially
those for whom English is not their first language. Earl Howe also spent time
with Tim Barratt and the wider team on the CRF, looking at some of the more
intense studies such as the first inhuman trial in Hunters Syndrome. He was
hugely impressed, particularly with the dedicated ward and the lengths that
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