CEO Today United Kingdom Awards

www.ceotodaymagazine.com 26 CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2018 CHARITY and children who are caring for parents or siblings with disabilities. Today, the small embryonic charity I started working for in 1995 has become a large, well- established organisation. The organisation now has a sustainable foundation, despite operating in a sector that has been consumed by a tidal wave of austerity measures and public spending cuts. Size and critical mass have brought financial and service stability to our organisation. You worked your way up from Care Support Worker to CEO of Carers Trust East Midlands (CTEM) – how would you say this has affected your leadership style? Would you say experience from other positions in an organisation is crucial to the role of CEO? Starting at the coalface of this organisation has undoubtedly shaped my leadership style and approach. I would not necessarily say that starting at the coalface is crucial to the role of CEO – however, I do believe that CEOs need to know and experience what happens at the coalface of their organisations, no matter what sector they are in. In my opinion, being seen and heard by your workforce sets a tone within an organisation that is a hugely important success factor. You have mentioned the hospital discharge services. Why do you think these have been so successful for CTEM? Our Hospital Discharge Services provide both cost-effective solutions for cash-strapped commissioners and superb, personalised and compassionate care for patients. They were developed in partnership with health, social care and local acute trusts. They reduce the demands and pressures on acute care by providing a sustainable, community-based alternative. Alongside driving efficiencies, our aim with these services is to provide higher-level care packages only where necessary, prevent readmission to hospital and encourage the individual to remain in their community. Our model is based on rapid response to a care issue. All patients have a worker face-to- face with them within two hours of referral. This has proven effective in bridging the six-to- eight day referral gap between hospital discharge, initial contact and commencement of both planning and a support package. Our rapid response staff provide a prompt assessment of the patient’s discharge support needs. They operate with case autonomy and ownership, and their approach focuses on the dynamic co-ordination of critical resources. This enables them to achieve a sustainable discharge, interim support and a co- ordinated handover to restore the individual to the community. This has served to professionalise the role of frontline care staff, providing fixed shift patterns and full-time salaries. The performance results include: • Demonstrable cost avoidance - for each £1 invested, we achieve £2.50 cost avoidance • Reduced social care delays in discharges from hospital • 100% two-hour response time achieved • Reduction in the number of commissioned home care packages • 40% of cases have resulted in a reduction in commissioned home care packages What advice would you offer in regard to the ongoing development of staff, and how to keep everyone on the same wavelength in an organisation? One of the greatest challenges to be a CEO in a fairly large and geographically spread organisation is the physical impracticality of getting around to see everyone. Investment in and the development of the workforce is critical, but money for training and development is not the only or even the most important means of investment. The CEO and the Senior Leaders of any organisation need to be seen, and they need to engender trust in the workforce. There have been many examples in recent years where CEOs for one reason or another have lost the trust of their workforce and the general public. The ‘trust crisis’ is not confined to the UK. It is now a global issue. In this untrusting climate, CEOs require an unwavering and fairly bulletproof integrity to keep everyone in their organisation on the same wavelength. Not so many years ago, we lived in a society that (mostly) trusted its leaders until they gave us a reason not to – now, our leaders are not trusted until they prove that they are trustworthy. It is a subtle yet seismic shift in attitude that we, as CEOs, ignore at our peril. ‘Transparency’ is the new buzzword of the up and coming generations. Historically, the inner world of CEOs of large organisations has been fairly private and hidden from view. This does not mean that all CEOs are carrying out clandestine and dishonest ‘business’… however, the collapse of trust resulting from the cases we have all seen in the media over recent years has led, sadly, to a perception that ‘if it can’t be seen… it can’t be trusted.’ What motivates you to achieve the best you can in your day- to-day work, and what are the key challenges you see within the Health and Social Care Sector? In simple terms, these are some of the drivers and challenges for our sector: • In the last five years there has been a £160 million cut in total public spending on older people’s social care despite a rapidly increasing demand because of our ageing population (Age UK care crisis report) • By 2039, more than one in 12 of the UK population is projected to be aged 80 or over • In the UK, 4.27 million people juggle work and care • Many of these are between the ages of 50 and 64 – at the peak of their careers with skills and experience • In 2008, the dependency ratio was 4:1. By 2018 it had fallen to 3:1 – a record high old-age dependency ratio in the EU • By 2050, 34% of the population in Europe is projected to be aged over 60 and it will be the oldest continent in the world There is growing evidence to demonstrate the increasing challenge our country faces. However, even after over 30 years of working in the Health and Social Care Sector, I still maintain an unwavering belief that we can do better as a country to support these most vulnerable members of our communities. Negative media coverage over recent years has led to a public perception that health and social care services in the