Catch up with K

Hi everyone, just a brief update on a few things….

You’ll be pleased to know that the Trustees have approved a 3% cost of living increase which will be awarded in your May salary and backdated for the month of April. Other fab news for staff is that as Derian House became a “Real Living Wage” employer, rather than a minimum wage employer, 12 colleagues will have their hourly rate increased in line with the increase for RLW employers. This is great news and we are really pleased to be able to pass on this benefit.
Many of you will know Lisa Kauffmann who has been a Trustee here at Derian for many years, and last year took up the role of Chair of the Trustee Board at Together For Short Lives. Sadly, Lisa has had to resign from her trustee roles due to her health. She will be a huge loss, brining that paediatric consultant experience to both the board and to the QSI sub group. I am now looking to find an equally experience medic to fill these huge shoes. Bringing experience across a range of health services is really important for the board and therefore I have this week appointed a new trustee who is a physio by profession, and is currently Chief Allied Health Professional at LTHTR. Claire Granato will officially join over the coming months but we should expect to see her around over the next few weeks.
We welcomed colleagues from the RCN on Monday. It was really interesting to meet Melissa, Lead Nurse for the NW, and hear about the support the RCN can provide not only for our colleagues who may be members, but the organisation as a whole.
We’ve had a really big interest from across the care team in developing their skill sets across our community provision, this is wonderful to hear and is a key feature of our new integrated way of working.
We say a very fond farewell to Kirsty on Monday as she embarks on a new role with the Kentown Nursing Team, we are delighted Kirsty will remain within the L&SC wider system and look forward to working closely in the future.
We now know what are funding looks like for this year from the L&SC ICB, which encompasses almost half of the children’s hospice grant. We will receive a reduced amount for this year, mainly as the education and exemplar projects were match funded, and this funding no longer exists. Discussions with GM continue.
Leadership is about making popular decisions, but sometimes it’s about making unpopular decisions. This time last year I was proposing significant changes to the trustees regarding our retail portfolio based on the financial performance of the shops that I had inherited. We were on track at that point to make a loss of around £200,000.00 on retail. I had to take some brave decisions with the charity at the heart of them and we had to sadly make some staff redundant and re-shape the retail offer. I am absolutely over the moon to share that under Micks leadership the retail team have absolutely flourished and we have ended the year in an almost break even position. Our budget for this year 24/25 will make a surplus for the first time in years. I’d like to thank all the staff across retail, including those working hard in the shops, Tony who has stepped up as Area Manager and the warehouse/driving team Gaz & Peter, who have all worked their socks off turning our retail portfolio around. We are now in a position to start thinking about how we grow retail, and that’s just amazing….
My favourite email this week came from Katie McNally… no… not the car accident…. BUT THE AMAZING ACHIEVEMENTS OF OUR YOUNG ADULTS !!!! Derian Dynamos rock again !!! so inspiring and so wonderful that we can create opportunities like this for our CYP
And finally I’d like to shine a bright light on the education team, just back yesterday from the Nursing Times Awards where we had made a prestigious short list. Sadly, this year wasn’t our year, however that takes absolutely nothing away from the team and the wider care team for their support for student nurses. Well done everyone…. We’re very proud !

That’s about it for now, thanks everyone for your hard work and commitment