Caroline's Blog

That’s a mantra I’ve always stuck by and one that I make sure my children believe.

And watching the news this week, it was a joy to see that same belief on the faces of all the A-level students receiving their results.

They’re moving onto their next chapter in life, they’re about to face new challenges and make new memories.  Many of those may well be going off to university to study medicine or nursing – an extremely rewarding route that you never know might lead them to The Christie in the future.

Education is such an important thing and in September we will be opening a Christie School of Oncology to train the doctors and nurses of tomorrow.  In line with our core mission statement of ‘We Care, We Discover, We Teach,’ we already offer education on all aspects of cancer here at The Christie, but our School of Oncology will really build on that.  It will offer the highest quality of education for people within our organisation already, across the cancer network and throughout the country.  Our staff have such a wealth of expertise and by sharing skills, we can together work to provide better and more effective care for our patients. 

We should never stop wanting to learn, improve or find better ways of doing things. 

Aim for the top and strive for the very best for yourself and others.

I couldn’t believe the weather yesterday, what a wet August it’s turned out to be.
 
We’re hardy bunch in Manchester and we don’t let the wet weather get us down.  Although it’s a challenge for any mum as I know - with children on school holidays. What’s happened to those entire lovely long summer August days?

Even though August has been a bit of a wash out, I’m really looking forward to September.  We’ve got our annual members meeting coming up on the 9th September – it’s always a real opportunity to meet our members and showcase the excellent progress we’ve made for the good of our patients. 

We’ve got a whole host of charity events coming up next month as well – from the Great North Swim and Run, to the Walk of Hope at Tatton Park.  The walk is always such a moving and inspirational event where family and friends gather in support of loved ones currently battling cancer, and in celebration of those who have beaten the disease and in memory of those who have sadly lost the fight.  This year we are being joined by a number of Coronation Street stars who want to show their support for us. Coronation Street is a national institution and their cast are brilliant in supporting us with all our activities to deliver the best care nationally and internationally.

We’ve also just had our annual review delivered and I’m really pleased with how its turned out.  This year we wanted to feature ‘real stories told by real people’ to help give an account of the last year at The Christie and highlight how our hospital has touched so many people and is supported by key organisations across Manchester.  One in particular is the premier league referee Mark Halsey who has been a patient here over the past year.  In the review he talks about how our staff “couldn’t do enough” for him and how they’re “top, top people who do a brilliant job.”

I’m thrilled we’ve been able to help him and bring him to full recovery.  And this weekend he’s back to where he belongs – he’ll be refereeing his first premier league match since beating cancer.  So at 3pm when Wigan meet Blackburn I’ll be cheering Mark on as its great to see him back.

There's so much in the news about rising unemployment, 120 graduates chasing every new job and people recently made redundant despairing about the chances of securing another job.

And then we have a critical national shortage of theatre nurses.

Instead of people beating down our door to work here, we are having to go that extra mile to recruit from this scarce pool.

Every hospital is finding it hard to recruit in this area, so we need to go beyond a job advert. We know we have unique selling points and we need to promote these. From our acclaimed specialist surgery to training and development opportunities.

That's why we're having a recruitment open day on Saturday 4th September from 10am to 2pm.

Anyone interested in seeing what opportunities there are in our theatres is invited. People can even bring their CVs for interviews on the day.

If you know a theatre nurse please let them know about this.

It may be a funny old world, but we are always very serious when it comes to recruitment.

I’ve always fancied being Davina McCall on Streetmate or any TV presenter who gets to completely surprise someone with a heart-warming announcement. 

And for just a short moment this afternoon I got that chance (sort of…) and it was wonderful. 

Tara Minshall a housekeeper on ward 12 was the first winner of our ‘employee of the month’ scheme – and in front of her proud colleagues I turned up on the ward to surprise her with the announcement. 

She was shocked and delighted. 

A humble and modest winner who was nominated by her work mates for always putting patients first and constantly going ‘above-and-beyond’. 

We have a big staff awards ceremony every year, but it’s important that we recognise the outstanding work of staff on an ongoing basis. 

They are the jewels in our crown.  And what makes this place so very special. 

Tara beat over 100 nominations to be this first month’s winner. A popular and worthy star. 

It was great seeing the smile on her face.  Just as well I wasn’t Davina with a huge camera crew in tow.

When I was a young girl I always used to think that if someone had cancer they would be bed-ridden during treatment, unable to do anything or go anywhere. And that they wouldn’t be able to pick up the pieces afterwards or return to any resemblance of their old life.

But I was wrong.

Cancer does change people’s lives for ever.  But often in an emotional and philosophical way.

So many people want to carry on with the practical elements of their lives during and after treatment.  Such as working, especially if they are sole traders, have spent years building up their own businesses or find work a helpful and positive distraction.

Yes, the treatment can be gruelling.  And yes, everyone responds in different ways.  People are so different and an important part of the Christie is providing those precious extra services and support for each individual.

But many do want to carry on or go back to the ‘day-job’.

That’s why I’m delighted we’ve launched a special project to support cancer patients who want to work during and after treatment.  The project is in partnership with the Shaw Trust and Macmillan Cancer Support and the first of just seven different pilots across the UK. The Shaw Trust is a national charity which supports disabled and disadvantaged people to prepare for work, find jobs and live more independently. 

We are here to support as well as treat. And we aim to care as well as cure.

And on a completely different note, I’ve just had a brilliant chat with the social affairs editor at the Guardian newspaper about our plans and developments – and why foundation trusts need to be business-savvy.  We’ll be name-checked in an article in their Saturday edition.

That’s the feedback on our charity garden at the RHS Tatton Flower Show this week.

I had a quick visit this morning to see the garden and congratulate our super-talented garden designer Lizzie Daley:

• http://elizabethdaley.co.uk/

 Such a beautiful event with spectacular garden designs.  It’s easy to be green with envy being amongst such green-fingered talent and such fine greenery (too many ‘greens’ ?).

But I ‘embraced tranquility’ instead, which is the theme of our garden.  Lizzie took inspiration from a Carthusian monastic garden and designed a “hidden refuge in a busy world”.  The stone is locally sourced, the wood environmentally-friendly and all the plants have some medical or therapeutic qualities.  The garden focuses on elements of healing and restoration and has been hugely praised.

This the eighth year we have had a sponsored garden at this prestigious show, which helps raise awareness about our cancer care and charity. William Hare Limited have kindly sponsored it this year, so many thanks to them. And to everyone else who is helping out and supporting us during the week.  I saw Carl Sharpe, one of our governors and his lovely wife and daughter Pat and Heather this morning helping out at our garden. Carl and Pat were both treated at the Christie and since then have been unstinting in their support. They do so much, and always with a smile, modesty, kindness and compassion.  Very special people.

And did I say that our garden has won ‘silver gilt’ ?

Blooming brilliant.

 A music extravaganza. 

And all for a good cause. 

Many staff, patients and supporters joined a 12,000-strong crowd at the MEN Arena last night for their 15th anniversary concert – which was in aid of four charities – including ours. 

Artists such as Pixie Lott, Alexandra Burke, Craig David, Beverley Knight, the Saturdays and Scouting for Girls wowed the audience.

A concert worthy of this brilliant venue, and which we were so proud to be part of. 

The Manchester Evening News kindly gave our charity the use of a box for special Christie supporters. And helped host the box which we appreciated. I'm told they had a fabulous evening, so thanks again to the MEN.

We also received tickets for our teenage cancer patients which was great.  An opportunity for them to hopefully forget about what they are going through for a few hours. 

Thank you to you all for your support and generosity.

Pure music therapy.

It was a wonderful day for illustrating the power of kindness, the strenght of the human heart and the generosity of our supporters. .

I attended a beach-themed ladies lunch on a hotel roof at lunchtime. A fundraising fiesta for our charity that gave St Tropez a run for its money.

‘Girls on top’ - literally. Where the women sizzled and salsa danced as brightly as the summer - and all for a great cause.

The organisers Trisha and Sue - and their companies Hill Dickinson and Wellness - worked so hard to put on a great event, with contributions from so many others.
 
And we then had our runners reception in the evening.

An opportunity to celebrate the great success of people who have run for us  - and thank them for their support for the Christie

Over the last 12 months our runners have collectively raised over £500,000 and covered a distance of over 35,000 miles. The equivalent of running around the world one and a half times.

Our auditorium was full of patients, former patients, families and friends and celebrities.

We were thrilled to have Gold medallist Darren Campbell attend as our special guest to present the medals.

A warm, modest, funny and brilliant man - and a local lad. An Olympic hero who called all our runners 'heroes'.

I ran alongside many of our guests at the Great Manchester Run and London Marathon. They were both uplifting, inspiring and enjoyable days, but to hear the personal stories of the runners this evening was humbling and moving.

We will always have a mix laughter and tears here - but also hope.

And that's what the evening was all about.

Hope is why we do what we do.

Hope never dies.

And hope will save lives.