Blackpool Teaching Hospitals’ bold new five-year strategy sets out its ambition to improve the lives of people who live, work and volunteer on the Fylde Coast and beyond.
The strategy was drawn up after consultation with a wide range of groups from across the local community – including children and young people, patients, staff, carers and key partners.
It includes a range of aims and priorities that will make a real difference in its community and beyond, focusing on aims including growing its workforce, making healthcare more equal, improving its impact on the environment and promoting new ways of working.
The strategy sets out three main aims:
- Our people – widening access to job opportunities, becoming the employer of choice within the community
- Our population – delivering high quality services with a key focus on preventative care and reducing health inequalities
- Our responsibility – working with partners to make sure these services are financially sustainable and to reduce environmental impact.
Trish Armstrong-Child, Chief Executive of Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, said: “We cannot ignore the impact the pandemic has had on services across health and social care nationally, and our colleagues have worked tirelessly to continue to deliver the highest possible levels of care. Now it’s time to focus on the future.
“This plan is the result of hard work from everyone involved and takes into account feedback, ideas, suggestions and priorities from so many people – it’s truly a team effort.
“We know we work in some incredible communities but we also recognise we work in areas that are experiencing poverty, reduced opportunities and poor health. Our plan doesn’t just look at what we can do to improve our organisation itself, but also what we can do to support our population over the next five years and beyond.
“For instance, it’s vital that as a large employer we widen access to jobs for future generations and ensure all colleagues are treated equally. This will allow us to work to reduce health inequalities and prioritise prevention and early detection of illness whilst supporting patients to manage their own health.
“Looking forwards we are continuing our improvement journey, using innovation, research and digital to deliver new models of care and invest in our communities in ways that can widen access, support health promotion and improve our environmental impact.
“It’s an exciting plan and I can’t wait to see it begin to make an impact. We know we can’t do it alone, and we’ll be working closely with everyone from patients and staff to our partners in the wider healthcare community.”
The Trust operates three main hospitals providing acute services to more than 330,000 local residents and delivering community health services for more than 445,000. It also provides urgent and emergency care services to around 18 million people who visit Blackpool every year and employs more than 7,500 staff representing 68 nationalities.
To learn more about the strategy, which sets out the Trust’s aims and objects for the period 2022-2027, click here.