Meeting with Blackpool Vic’s Chief exec

I was proud to share Labour’s commitment and plan for the future of the NHS with Maggie Oldham, chief executive of Blackpool Teaching Hospitals (which includes the Vic), when I met with her. 

Over the past few years, as the NHS has been put under mounting pressure most notably during the global pandemic, Maggie shared openly just how difficult it has been for her colleagues, their patients and their families. 

I was pleased to provide assurance in return that the Government acknowledges this that the NHS is an immediate and important priority for us. 

I visited the hospital to get a better idea of the situation on the ground for teams here in Blackpool and to raise some specific concerns. I was very impressed with Maggie’s handle on the situation and her plan for the future.  She has been brought in as an interim chief exec but has a bold vision for improving the hospital for both staff and patients that she is already well on with. It was clear that Maggie recognises there is an immense challenge ahead but is already putting things in place that allow her to be confident that things will improve.

With Maggie Oldham. I am confident that this first meeting is the beginning of a relationship of cooperation where myself and hospital staff have the safety to hold one another to account while maintaining mutual respect.

We had a very frank conversation about some specific ongoing cases and complaints. I found Maggie’s openness and willingness to accept the hospital’s failings and her commitment to righting wrongs extremely encouraging. 

I was also shown around the hospital’s emergency department – one that I, like so many others in Blackpool, was already sadly familiar with. The new facility is fantastic but massively overstretched. It was built for around 60 patients at any one time but Maggie told me that it has had up to 188 people in it, waiting up to 50 hours to be seen. The day I visited was described as a ‘good day’ – but still 80 people were there, some in beds lining the corridors.  

Maggie assured me that the team is providing their very best to care for people in such a challenging environment but highlighted that improving social care is going to play a huge part in making things better and, whilst partners were doing their best to support local people, working more effectively as a system would help the Trust treat patients quicker, in turn helping them move onto wards for further treatment and be discharged as soon as clinically safe to community facilities and teams, if not to their home. 

To echo this point, on the day I visited, there were 100 people medically fit for discharge but vulnerable and with nowhere safe to go. You’ll quickly recognise that number of beds as more than those required for the patients waiting in the emergency department for admission.   

Senior staff also explained how people are frequently arriving in mental health crisis and that further investment in mental health services would significantly reduce the demand placed on them, providing specialist support for people who need it. They shared my view that investing in third sector organisations – such as Blackpool’s Counselling in the Community – would ease the burden on stretched NHS services. 

Senior staff at the Vic kindly gave me a tour and shared their insight into the running of the hospital

Maggie also acknowledged that things could be more efficient within the Trust and conceded she was focused on reducing the amount of money spent on locum or temporary staff and overcoming the challenges of recruiting permanent, specialist clinicians, as quickly as possible. 

And she believes that the hospital’s facilities must reflect the needs of the community too. The Vic has a speciality cardiac centre that serves heart patients from across Lancashire and Cumbria – which is great – but the hospital struggles to meet the needs of Blackpool residents who often present with multiple illnesses that are directly linked to deprivation. These multiple diagnoses slow down the treatment process for people and pathways are going to need to flex better to ensure these issues are addressed. 

One thing Maggie and I explicitly agreed on was just how much credit should go to NHS staff – both in hospitals and the community – who are stretched beyond all reasonable expectations and yet turn up for work day after day to give their patients the best possible care they can. We discussed the duty of care both the hospital and the government have towards them. Maggie believes many of them will suffer from trauma or PTSD from their experiences at work, especially during the pandemic. This is completely wrong and we must ensure that support is put in place for them as well as for patients. 

With dedicated staff in the emergency department

There were some tangible actions to come out of my meeting with Maggie and her senior team. We have made a joint commitment to look at the needs of the local population to assess how the Trust can better serve it. Blackpool is globally acknowledged as unique and I will advocate for our health care professionals to have a voice in research and policy. I will also advocate for increased resources for our hospital which not only serves long-term residents but a transient population and tourists. Our funding should reflect that. And I will continue to visit the hospital on a regular basis to gain a deeper understanding of the situation staff and patients there are facing. 

I am confident that this first meeting is the beginning of a relationship of cooperation where myself and hospital staff have the safety to hold one another to account while maintaining mutual respect. By working together, and with a Labour government who is committed to putting the NHS back on its feet, I am confident that we can make positive change.

“It was a real pleasure to meet with Chris, his focus on improving health and care services for our community is most welcome and I have no doubt of his commitment to helping the people of Blackpool.  I look forward to working with him in the months to come.”

Maggie Oldham