The people

We believe CUH is a hospital like no other . Our name is associated with excellence and our reputation is international. But this means nothing without the ability to honour our patients as individuals. We aim to empathise with their experience and to fulfil their expectations of expert care in a safe, clean, comfortable and friendly environment . to care for our patients not just to treat them.

The Trust's reputation rests on the skill and dedication of our staff: they are the Trust and it is their teamwork, energy, commitment, innovation and imagination that deliver our service.

There are around 7,000 members of staff from a rich and diverse background with 18% of the Trust workforce from countries other than the UK.

CUH depends on over 100 job roles in order to provide clinical care and services. Doctors and nurses are at the leading edge of care, but their job is only made possible through the support of many other staff throughout the hospital. Diagnosing and treating disease involves an army of roles, pharmacists, physios, radiographers, lab technicians, dieticians (to name only a few), but caring for patients also depends on roles which are sometimes 'invisible' but which are, nonetheless, vital: admin staff such as ward clerks and medical secretaries; maintenance staff such as electricians and carpenters; without porters patients could not be transported around the hospital and without cleaners we would not be able to maintain our standards for controlling infection.

As a team our philosophy is to place the patient at the heart of everything we do. Our approach is to focus on improving our standards; to challenge and explore new ways of working; to harness technology; to invest in staff development and in new facilities; to question how we work in the future and how we can work better and smarter.

We are accountable to our Foundation Trust membership and our community for what we do and how we do it and therefore we are open about our actions and realise that we should never be complacent about any aspect of our performance. The Trust examines performance critically so that we can build on good practice and learn from any mistakes and become more efficient and effective in caring for patients.

Achieving key clinical and performance targets remains a priority for all staff as the visible and measurable standard of our service, but we also do not lose sight of the fact that our service is about people - staff and patients.

 

'Achieving key clinical and performance targets remains a priority for all staff as the visible and measurable standard of our service, but we also do not lose sight of the fact that our service is about people - staff and patients.'

At the Trust's recent open day over three thousand people visited the hospital to have a look behind the scenes, try their hand at all sorts of activities and have a good day out. Visitor feedback on the day gives us just as much indication of how people view and measure the hospital as any of the targets: "It was a privilege to spend time here - a stimulating, unique, educational insight," "Very friendly staff, and lots of things to do and see" and "A fantastic day - how proud we are of the hospital and its staff."

Our regular staff enjoy enthusiastic support in their roles from our army of volunteers - over 700 of them of all ages from 18 to 80 giving their time for hospital radio, as clinic helpers, guides, and as members of the Women's Royal Voluntary Service canteen - to give examples of just a few of their roles.

The Trust is also very lucky to have the support of its own charity - Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust or ACT - which raises funds to enhance hospital services, facilities and research. Making use of the funds raised by ACT allows the hospital to achieve some things sooner than it would otherwise have done and to invest in projects to a greater degree than NHS funds alone might have allowed. The charity has supported the development of new buildings such as the Cambridge Breast Research Unit - focused on the treatment and research for breast cancer; the acquisition of new equipment like the Da Vinci Robot for the treatment of prostate cancer; and supported the Addenbrooke's Archives and Addenbrooke's Arts programmes.

Many people's first impression of the hospital may be how big it is . but the sense of community within the hospital is quickly apparent. The involvement and collaboration between staff, patients, Trust members, stakeholders and the local community helps CUH to deliver a modern, reliable and responsive service . and gives us the potential for future development.

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Innovation and excellence in health and care

There is no question that CUH is a high achiever. One of the first NHS Foundation Trusts, the Trust has over many years achieved performance targets and national standards and won national awards for individuals, teams and the organisation as a whole. We are very proud of our achievement, but our aim is to do even better. To help us achieve this goal we have developed a set of priorities which are focused on improving our service but which together also act as the impetus for the Trust to develop and excel as an organisation of innovation and excellence in health and care. The culture of the Trust, and how we work together and care for our patients, is driven and shaped by:

• improving the experience of patients
• improving patient care and safety
• ensuring clinical excellence and effectiveness
• valuing our staff and our partners
• striving for innovation in all we do

Improving the experience of patients

We want all our patients to have the best possible stay in hospital - which is exactly what our staff would expect if they themselves were patients. Our work is focusing around learning from patients' concerns and suggestions; improving our communications with patients so they are fully informed and involved in their care; treating each as an individual, not just as a patient on a busy ward; improving the physical environment to make it more welcoming and sympathetic; and improving clinical practice so patients can go home more quickly. Patients are at the heart of everything we do and our aim is to care for them . not just to treat them. Some examples of current projects include:

• patients with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) are getting support from a care coordinator who helps to balance their complex care needs and improve their quality of life
  
  
• a Children's and Young People's Board has been set up to use their first hand experience as patients or carers to advise the Trust on providing a better service in better surroundings Improving patient care and safety

Empathising with the experience of our patients helps us to provide a service which is responsive to our patients' needs. But what our patients have an absolute right to expect is expert care in a safe, clean and comfortable environment. Patient safety and the quality of our care is paramount: every member of staff has responsibility for upholding standards and all members of staff are encouraged to continually explore new and better ways of caring for our patients. Two projects illustrate this approach:

• our infection control procedures were commended by the Care Quality Commission saying that they found many examples of good practice and that they could see that tackling infections like MRSA and Clostridium difficile was a top priority for the Trust
  
  
• stroke patients are benefitting from the new role of assistant practitioners who are focusing on rehab skills, supporting patients' recovery and maximizing their independence: patients can get better quicker, have fewer complications and can go home sooner

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