Chasing Heros

This blog has taken a long time to write as time and thoughts have required refinement.  It was started a week after the world sadly lost Dr Kate Grainger, she was the founder of the #hellomynameis campaign.  During her cancer treatment she realised that medical colleagues were not introducing themselves to patients.  Whilst here at Leeds Teaching Hospitals she launched the campaign which was open not only to medical personnel but to all members of the hospital.  


The Trust is now a wash with #hellomynameis badges.  The badge is more than a piece of uniform, it is an optional extra for staff to identify who they are to patients and to remind them to introduce themselves to patients.  


To get a badge members of staff have signed up to:




•    Always introduce yourself to patients and visitors
•    Treat them as you would a member of your own family or friends
•    Always see the person behind the condition
•    Treat people with respect and dignity. 
 
In February this year I had the opportunity to meet Dr Kate at a 'Circus' themed cake stall she was involved in running.  I remember her warm smile and caring persona that sprang from her. It was an honour to be able to help her in her fundraising efforts. 


Her death and the wonderful tributes paid to her all of which were richly deserved has got me thinking about what is a real hero.


We live in the age of celebrity and personal fame.  There is media hype and obsession with the lives of people like our sports stars.  I know for many their hopes and dreams rest on the shoulders of a few. The nation pins its hopes and dreams on a football team, a rugby team, a cricket team or during the Olympics an individual in their chosen favourite events.  We also see them rewarded nationally by the establishment if they are successful in doing what they have trained for and received income for to allow them to dedicate their lives to.


Are these true heroes or are they icons, people who are the pinnacle of achievement.  It is a fine line.   To help me manage stress and to keep things in perspective I often reflect on things some times it is clear process at looking back on a particular action and sometimes is it looking back over a theme.  Those reading this will know that I have no sporting heroes there are people I may admire, people who are icons but very few heroes. 


There are also those who a thrust in stardom by being on Television, this fame is often sought by many who want to be seen as having made it in something.  But is this correct should people be allowed to force themselves on the nation.

What do I mean by a hero?  


The dictionary definition of a hero according to the Collins Dictionary 1) the principal male character in a novel or play, 2) a man of exceptional courage, nobility 3) a man who is idealised for having superior qualities in any field. 


If we look at the last two definitions perhaps heroes are closer to us than we imagine.




Heroes in the work place




I have many potential heroes in the workplace.  They are the people who have made things better, the manager who supported me by allowing me to become a Future-Focused Finance Value Maker and in so doing opened a door of opportunity.  From him I have learnt that understanding the person behind the colleague is as important. Also a manager who does not stand in the way of his staff undertaking secondments that will be of more benefit to the individual than to the department has certain heroic qualities.


There are the colleagues who are gifted at their jobs.  They set a shining example of talent in a particular area and many including myself marvel at their abilities.

One particular hero of mine is the  Director of Finance who put faith in me and mentored me to develop acted as an inspiration and spurred me on increasing my confidence whilst tempering the sharp edges.


The speakers we meet and the people we network with those we look up to, it is interesting to hear Roy Lilly's comments at a NHS Leadership Academy event describing the people who lead our NHS Trust not simply as leaders but as heroes due to the burden and responsibility they carry for the limited reward and thanks they receive.


That is not to forget those managers who have confidence in us and allow us to spread our wings and try to soar.  How do they do this? they spot talent and nurture it, they round the sharp edges and their enthusiasm for developing people becomes infectious.. 


However, we must never forget that there are other around us especially in Healthcare that really must be classed as heroes. Recently I had the privilege of spending some time with a Ward Housekeeper recently looking at how food was served to our patients and  how the ordering process worked.  At the end of two meal services I saw the care she look over ordering and distributing meals and the way she put the patients at the centre of what she was doing.  It reminded me that often the people doing the work at the grass roots level are over looked in Healthcare for the massive difference they make to the organisation and how they are over looked by so many for doing those jobs that keep organisations running.


In life outside work


As a sufferer of depression there are many people to whom I am grateful those people who are at the end of the phone to go for a pint or who open their homes up for you to sit on their sofa and unwind and de-stress.


I am aware that I am here to write this blog because of two people. The first is a friend who when the worst day of depression came spent time with me on the phone and stopped me doing something very stupid.  He had no idea of the plans that ran through my mind that night, but a phone call as promised by him later means that you are reading this.  This is the same person who is talented in so many ways, but gave me the greatest gift, a future.  In my personal life he is a true hero. 


The other person that I owe a huge amount to is my nephew and Godson, when things were black his love made such a difference, he may never understand the scale of what he does on a day to day basis. But I am increasing aware he is a hero, he faces his own challenges and some challenges I am blessed to share with him.  But as I learn to search increasingly for the best in people I see how amazing he and my niece are. They will do far greater things in life than I can ever hope to achieve, but to be their Uncle is an amazing reward and the joy they have brought in to my life and the way I am absorbed in to theirs makes them heroes.
 

These are very personal heroes but if I consider those who people who cross our lives and can inspire us, the friends that give us the brutal truth, sometimes we may not wish to hear it but at times we need to hear and understand the truth as others see it.  people who are willing to be so honest can be heroes, because the protect us from ourselves. 


Heroes by skill


There is a children's book called Badger's parting gift.  It is written to help children cope with grief but in the story it focuses on those skills that people teach us as an amazing gift to cling to.  We all have that one teacher who we look up to, mine is surprisingly a sports teacher who made sport at high school a subject to be enjoyed and as the archetypal 'whimpy kid' that is an amazing achievement.  What heroic quality did he display, he saw me as an individual and supported me he helped me find options that I enjoyed and somehow helped me avoid the sports I was no good at.  He celebrated my achievements and did not care that I would never be on the school sports team. 


As I type this blog I am reminded of the communication skills that a friend demonstrated when we were together with someone who had a mental health crisis.  Seeing her work what I can only describe as communication magic meant that when I have dealt with similar situations I have had the confidence to make a difference when the time came.  I know that the skills that she demonstrated are ones she has learnt and refined over time; however, I am still in awe of what she does and I am blessed that she and her family are friends.


The final kind of hero I want to talk about are those who have excelled in their chosen professions, many of whom have made massive difference to the world.  Some have the creative ingenuity that provides a system or product that will go on to change thousands of lives and some their presence at a time of crisis makes the difference.  Many of these people also give their times and skills to others for charity or because simply they can, the reward they seek is someone to say thank you.


Finding our own heroes


So what does this mean for us at work and in life, the world is full of amazing people, if we find their skills and strengths and allow them to fly not only in the work environment but as part of society it can make a life changing differences to the world. 


We all have the capability to be a hero to someone and there will be times that we will all fulfil that role for someone.  We can spend our lives looking for a hero but very often they will be sat next to us in the office, across the table in the pub. 


They are at the end of a phone, an e-mail  or round the corner.  By searching for these people in our lives we can perhaps all make some of the changes to society that Kate Granger did and through this mutual recognition we will enrich our society and our work places.

Words of Desmond Tutu from No Future without Forgiveness

One book that I have constantly on my desk at home is "You have breath for no more that 99 words.  What would they be?"  This is a collection of thoughts from inspirational people around the world.  Someone I have always admired is Archbishop Desmond Tutu, I am glad that the following words from him are in the book.  These are words to look up to, words to aim for and words that if understood can have an amazing effect on our lives.


So here are 97 words from the Archbishop.


"Ubuntu is very difficult to render into a Western language. It speaks of the very essence of being human. When we want to give high praise to someone we say, "Yu, u nobuntu",; "Hey, he or she has Ubuntu." This means they are generous, hospitable, friendly, caring and compassionate.  They share what they have.  It also means my humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in theirs.  We belong in a bundle of life... It is not 'I think therefore I am'. It says rather: 'I am human because I belong.' I participate, I share."

Patient Centred Finance Staff

The main aim of the NHS is to provide patient-centred care, we acknowledge the work of the clinicians, nurses, pharmacists and allied health professionals but do we ever truly recognise the vocation of those who provide our support services.


I have recently moved into a new secondment and am back on the operational end of work.  Admittedly not with patients directly but working alongside frontline staff to provide those services.  This has meant that I have spent more time out and about in the organisation. 


Two incidents yesterday underlined how much of an impact those of us who provide support services can have. 


Walking down the corridor I so an elderly gentlemen looking confused, naturally I asked if I could help, he said he lost his wife and couldn't find her.  He was clearly worried, he had dropped his wife off in her wheel chair in the reception area and by the time he had returned from parking the car she had disappeared.


He knew a doctors name but had no idea where he needed to go for his wife's appointment as she had the letter.  I am now presented with two options, direct him to someone who could advise or to stay with him until the mystery of where his wife was reached its conclusion.  Remembering that one of the five values of our organisation is Patient Centred I took the gentleman on to a nearby ward to work out where we might find the doctor.  


The Ward Clerk knew that the Doctor held a clinic in the nearby Outpatients department, so s brief walk and we arrived at the first reception desk.  We were then directed to a second desk, the gentleman asked if his wife had been brought up to the clinic.  The clerks said that the lady had not arrived and that she was expected. 


At this point the gentleman started to worry further, he had not seen his wife in the reception area and now she was not in clinic.  I can comprehend the worry of trying to find someone in a large building when you already have the worries which relate to being in a healthcare environment.  There suddenly became an impasse, in some ways I realise the Clinic Clerks could not go off and search for the lady, but at the same time leaving an elderly gentleman to walk the corridors searching for his wife was not a solution either.  


The best solution and the most patient centred would be for me to go and do an initial check with the reception staff if they had seen where the lady had gone.  A quick run down the stairs, thankfully I have lost weight so can run down the stairs and speak when I get to the bottom and I was in reception.  By the reception desk was a lady matching the description of the gentleman's wife.  A quick check of identity and another problem raised its head.  The lady was wheelchair bound. At this point I will admit that I have probably broken some rules here; but what was needed from a patient perspective was for the patient and her husband to be reunited as soon as possible.  I asked if she minded if I pushed her up to the clinic where her husband was waiting.  


A few minutes later the two were reunited and we discovered that what the husband defined as being unable to walk did not match the wife's need for independence and she had managed to get to the toilets on her own.  Hence when he had arrived in the hospital she was not where he expected.  


I left two relieved and grateful people sat in clinic, I hope that I was able to demonstrate a little compassion in my duty and that we in the acute sector even though we are removed from patient care have a responsibility to demonstrate that even finance staff can have direct impacts on patient care.  


The second incident happened late at night as we left the pub a friend and I heard anguished screams and wondered if someone was being attacked. The scream came again and as we approached the road a young man entered our view carrying what looked to be a roll-mat and a holdall. 


Now being able to see the young man it was clear that he as upset and all he had left in him was an anguished cry, the temporary barriers near our church felt the full force of his frustration.  He then took the same direction was we did heading for our local park (Country Estate), the speed of his walk and the anguish of his cries caused call for concern.  Should I hope all is well or was his a danger to himself or others.  That is not my call to make but what was clear was that there was a person in distress who needed help.  I was struggling to keep him in sight the only option was to call for help, dialling 999 I asked for the police, the operator put me straight in the queue however I had to wait to be connect to the police call handler.  To be fair I got a very competent call handler and we worked together, I provided him with as much detail as I could and he provided  the communications link to officers heading to the scene.  


I caught glimpses of the persons shadow as his frame silhouetted against the lights.  Or he used his mobile phone and the light shone out like a beacon.  Being on the field was obviously calming as the screaming stopped this made him more difficult to locate, I still feared that he may do something that he would regret later in his life if not try to end his life.  


After 18 minutes from my initial call the police arrived, by this point I had, had to return to the light to enable the police to find me.  Another few minutes and the search had been passed on to the police.  


What worries me was how many other people had this soul passed?  Who else had heard the distressed and anguished cries.  There is  no right or wrong to this question, but I believe that some people are called by vocation to certain roles, when we find them we should as a community support them, acknowledge their skills.  They may not be a doctor or a nurse.  They may not be the pharmacist or the physiotherapist.  But they are the people that can show compassion when it needed.  We celebrate our professions, we idolise footballers and sportsmen, make heroes of our celebrities.  But at the end of the day do we recognise those small gestures that make a difference to a persons life.  


By doing those small gestures, finance staff can engage briefly in patient care and make a difference.  As the quotes says "To make a difference in someone's life, you don't have to be brilliant, rich, beautiful or perfect.  You just have to care enough and be there."