Caroline's Blog

It’s always a funny period between Christmas and New Year. Still stuffed from too much turkey and chocolates but full of anticipation for new beginnings and a fresh start.

My Christmas was really special. Seeing my children’s faces when they came down in the morning to stockings full of gifts was just priceless and one that any mother treasures forever. A time as well of course to wind down for a few days and spend some time with the family.

But as ever I’m raring to go again and wondering what 2011 will entail. Many say that New Year’s resolutions are doomed to fail because we always tend to set ourselves impossible targets. When those resolutions are about something personal, then perhaps that criticism is correct in some cases. But when the resolutions you make are about others, failure just isn’t an option. Every year I vow to improve the care and treatment that our patients receive and to make their experience better in every way. And when you’ve got dedicated staff who share that goal – staff who continually go above and beyond - then you’re guaranteed success.

Happy holidays to one and all - and thoughts particularly to all who find this time of year difficult.

As we get ready to break up for Christmas I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us over the year.

We’ve had another successful year, opening our new radiotherapy centre in Oldham and our patient treatment centre on this site just last month. We also opened our refurbished information centre and made great progress with our two new surgical theatres and second radiotherapy centre in Salford.  But it’s not just about new buildings. We’ve dramatically reduced waiting times in outpatients, launched our School of Oncology and maintained excellent feedback from our patients in our monthly satisfaction surveys.

None of this could have been achieved without the fantastic support from so many people.  From our fundraisers, members and volunteers to our partners and the public at large. Support comes in so many forms and it is all hugely appreciated.

We all know that difficult times are ahead for the NHS, but through being as efficient and effective as we can - and also ensuring we bring in as much additional income as possible through our research, education and private patients services - we can continue to develop and improve our treatment and care for patients.  We want to carry on enhancing services with plans such as developing our young oncology service into the premier unit in the UK.

So, thank you again for helping us achieve all that we have over the last 12 months and for your continued support.

Christmas can be a difficult time for some of our patients and their families, and our thoughts and best wishes are with each and everyone one of them.

I wish you all an enjoyable Christmas.  And here’s to a healthy, happy and successful New Year for all of us.

 I’m known for always looking forward.  Constantly thinking ahead to the next meeting, idea or project. 

 But sometimes it’s important to look back. To take stock of what has been achieved and most importantly to say thank-you.

 It’s so easy to tick the box when something’s completed, or even just focus on lessons learned and what can be done better next time. 

The value however of recognising and applauding people who have been instrumental in achieving excellent results, successfully implementing a new project or hitting a challenging target is huge.  It’s not just the right thing to do, but helps motivate and energise staff.

 We all need a thank-you.

Our annual staff awards ceremony is this Friday and it’s a wonderful opportunity to thank people who have truly gone above and beyond the call-of-duty over the last 12 months.

Yes, we need to be saying thank-you to people throughout the year, but this uplifting event is a chance to shout it out load and clear.

The award categories cover staff working on the front-line, in research and education and behind-the-scenes.  From world-leading consultants to administrative staff.

One of the actors from Coronation Street will be the guest of honour to present the awards. Kindly making time for this event, as we are one of their 50th anniversary charities, in between a crazy filming schedule. And following in the footsteps of Sir Alex Ferguson, Sven-Goran Eriksson, John Bishop and many other household names in presenting the awards.

So this Friday I will be very proud and repeating two incredibly important words throughout the ceremony.

I read a fantastic quote the other day; "The six most important words: I admit I made a mistake. The five most important words: You did a good job. The four most important words: What is YOUR opinion? The three most important words: If you please. The two most important words: Thank You. The one most important word: We. The least important word: I."

What successful changes have not been ambitious ?  High expectations in business are the key to everything.

That’s how we achieved our new patient treatment centre and radiotherapy centre in Oldham.

Some people are still surprised when I talk about us as a business.

Yes, we are a hospital with cancer patients.

But in order to keep on developing and providing the best services for our patients, we need to be a strong business.

We need to grow our income, be efficient, hit all our targets and balance our books. 

We wouldn’t expect anything less for our patients.

Our five year strategy - ‘Developing and Sustaining an International Cancer Institute’ - has been approved by our board of directors and is centred around our four business streams – NHS, research & education, joint ventures and our charity.

It focuses on providing the best specialist NHS services for cancer patients with world class outcomes;  developing a programme of world leading research and education; maximising opportunities for generating surpluses from non NHS funded cancer services to reinvest in NHS provision; and developing and growing the reputation and income of our Christie charity.

With exciting new projects to help achieve this. 

From developing our young oncology service into an international beacon of excellence to bringing in more income for our NHS developments through our Christie Clinic private patient outpatient service. With plans to develop excellent collective relationships with cancer centres in other countries, secure approval for and develop a proton beam therapy, move to a paperless electronic environment and establish relationships with those leading new commissioning arrangements.

As the entrepreneur E Joseph Cossman wrote: “Our business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves”.