Last updated at 15:48, Thursday, 06 November 2008

New hospitals' boss Carole Heatly talks to Gillian Ellison

Keen to get started: New chief executive of North Cumbria University Hospital NHS Trust, Carole Heatly, outside West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven

CAROLE Heatly, Cumbria’s new hospitals’ boss, has a simple message about the building of the new West Cumberland Hospital: I’m desperate to get on with it.

And, from what she has seen of the area so far, her personal preferred location would be where it is at the moment. “Don’t rule out it being where it is currently situated,” she told The Whitehaven News.

There will be a proper appraisal of options from a team headed up by Carole, but she said: “The site has served everyone well for a long time and we need to take that into consideration. The site it’s on is really busy and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.”

Carole, 49, is the new chief executive of North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust.

She recognises that the people of West Cumbria have been through a “traumatic” experience with the Closer to Home consultation. “People are fearful of change, especially when it comes to healthcare. The biggest bit of good news is that we have got the go-ahead for a new hospital.”

She said they were looking at what kind of size and floor space was needed as well as talking to boroughs about land availability.

“I am hopeful to get a decision sooner rather than later,” said Carole.

“People of West Cumbria are anxious about this, we need to give them some reassurances. The services in it will be as in the Closer to Home consultation.

“When you talk to staff they don’t quite think it will happen,” said Carole, who is planning to relocate and use her current office near the main entrance to West Cumberland Hospital as a project room. It will mean staff and the public can go in and view plans for the new building when it gets to that stage.

“We don’t want to be doing it behind closed doors, we want to show people that it will happen.”

The process of designing and building a new hospital and then moving staff and patients in will take around five years, estimated Carole.

Although what’s best for healthcare is the top priority when choosing a location, she agreed that the economic impact would also be considered.

“The hospital is probably the biggest employer in the town and we should not discredit that.” And she is keen on the whole campus idea, of clustering other health-related organisations.

“Our job is to make sure that the hospital is in the right place but if things like opticians, GPs services etc want to be located nearby then that would be great.”

Asked to comment on The Whitehaven News’ Save Our Services march held almost two years ago, the chief executive said: “It shows people are willing to fight for their healthcare. We have the right to free speech and the right to stand up and fight.

“I always put myself in the situation and think, if I lived in Whitehaven what would I want?

“Healthcare needs to be safe so you need to have enough doctors on a rota, there are some things that people have to travel for but I believe in local care for local people.”

From Scotland, Carole describes herself as “firm but fair”.

“I love people, I think that I am open and honest and I am really enthusiastic about what I do,” she said.

And you can expect to see her in and around the hospitals’ wards, as she is making sure that a half day every week will be spent on the shop floor.

“And I will continue to do that, it’s where I feel comfortable and I will genuinely listen to the staff.”

Carole is totally ready for the challenge that she knows lies ahead. “I have come to an organisation that knows it’s got a mountain to climb and is up for it.”

Having been in post for a couple of months, she said: “It’s like coming home for me. The whole ethos, the people, they are warm and they have got time for you.”

Carole is passionate about the NHS and has experience of it from all sides. She began her career as a nursing assistant in a maternity hospital, before becoming a general nurse and then caring for sick children in Edinburgh. As well as working out in Saudi Arabia and Oman, Carole worked in a tough A&E department in Glasgow as a sister for many years before moving into management over 15 years ago.

So how did she make that big move? “I always thought that I could do a better job than the people telling me what to do. It would always frustrate me and then one day someone said okay, come over here and have a go.” So she did just that.

Carole has a track record in helping to turn around health services. Five years ago she joined Kingston Hospital, in South West London, as its chief executive. It was in financial deficit, had a poorly performing A&E department and big problems with MRSA.

But after only a year under Carole’s leadership, the financial situation was breaking even and she had turned around both the A&E and MRSA problems.

She has overseen the opening of many new facilities including a new surgical centre. One of her proudest moments was her hospital being chosen as the first health facility to be visited by the then new prime minister Gordon Brown and health secretary Alan Johnson.

There must be quite a difference from running health facilities in London to Cumbria? “Running rural health services is really challenging under national tariffs (a national system which bases cost for each hospital admission on its average cost across the NHS). It is a real challenge to deliver cost effective services.

“But there is no doubt that this community needs, deserves and wants a new healthcare facility.

“We need to think through what it is that we need and how we work better with primary and social care.”

Carole is delighted to be coming into the Trust at a time when it has just been rated excellent for its quality of services. “We are doing very well on performance. That is down to the relationship between patients and the staff and they are getting their just rewards.

“They know they do a good job but there has been no clarity and I don’t think they believe it (the new hospital) will definitely happen.”

Before taking up her new role Carole did a fair bit of research among health colleagues and the general feedback was that the North Cumbria Trust had financial problems but that the fundamental care was there and that the doctors and nurses were second to none.

“In the organisation as a whole, we have got to get a grip of the finances then that will give us some headroom to do things. We need to keep working with the primary care trust to make sure we do what we said we will and we need to move forward to become a Foundation Trust.”

She recognises that there will be tough times ahead as the shift moves from acute hospital led care to community care and some staff see a change in their role.

“It is happening all over the country and it is in the interests of patients. The staff need to shift where the patients’ care is delivered.

“Change is threatening to all of us. We must train them as best we can and continue to tell them what’s happening.”

Carole is no stranger to this area. From Motherwell, where her parents and brothers still live, Carole’s first holiday was to St Bees. And she spent many a happy holiday camping in the Lakes. She currently rents a house in Warcop but would love to live by the sea and says she is planning to stick around: “I intend to be here for a long time, I see myself here for five years at least,” she added.

First published at 15:41, Wednesday, 05 November 2008
Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk