4:39pm Thursday 15th February 2007
By Richard Boullemier
The new chief executive of West Middlesex University Hospital doesn't have a magic potion to make it perfect. But Tara Donnelly believes the old-fashioned remedy of good teamwork can cure any problems she finds.
Mother-of-two Tara, 37, took up her new challenge last week and promptly set about listening to the views of her staff and trying to learn their names - all 1,600 of them.
She comes to West Middlesex from a similar post at North London's Whittington Hospital and she and husband Robbie, an IT specialist in the NHS, have now moved to Chiswick with Ruby, three, and six-month-old Jamie.
She told the BCIT that when she was approached to take over at West Mid, it was an opportunity she couldn't turn down.
"I had a good feeling about the hospital. I'd already heard good things about it which initially sparked my interest, but I was also impressed with the journey that it's been on over the years.
"The surroundings are so different to how it was years ago and the new facilities and transformation has been great. The environment here is so different to the low-level buildings many years ago.
"Those factors helped to persuade me - and I felt the timing was right too. I thought it was probably time to be a chief exec after being a deputy for 18 months, and having the buck myself."
Tara set her sights on healthcare from an early age and her impressive resume will bring valuable experience to the hospital.
During her six and a half years at the Whittington Hospital, she worked in management of maternity, children's services, surgery, accident and emergency, medicine and pathology, and was promoted from director of operations to deputy chief executive.
"I think working in the public sector was always in my bones. And I really got a taste for it after working at Charing Cross before I went to University. It was the NHS all the way because my mother worked in the prison service as a governor, nothing like the television show Bad Girls, and my dad worked in local Government so I got the health bug, the good one that is."
While we're on the subject of bugs, how is the whole MRSA issue at West Mid?
Tara said: "This hospital is very clean, which is helped by being a new building, and we've seen a reduction in MRSA, but there's still work to be done on keeping infection well controlled."
She is also keen to promote a team mentality at West Mid: "I think it's incredibly important for the staff who do support roles like cleaning to be treated as equals and as part of the team - that is central.
"There needs to be good relationships and quick feedback so the nursing staff are able to chat to their domestic staff about important issues."
There have been calls to bring back the good old-fashioned matrons to install a bit more discipline on wards, and Tara said: "I think clinical leadership is vitally important, knowing that someone is in charge when you arrive on a ward. And you get the feeling that this is a special area where rules are observed.
"Patients spend a lot of time with these people and must be treated with dignity and it's important that staff are interacting with patients."
She has also worked at Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals, Stoke Mandeville Hospital and most recently Whittington, and feels her experience will help to take West Mid forward.
She said: "There are a lot of similarities between Whittington and West Mid - very much a community focus and both are similar in size.
"The staff are very enthusiastic and really seem ready roll their sleeves up, but it doesn't seem to be a place that attracts egos. The managerial relationships with the staff seems to be strong.
"Although it's in a different part of London, there is a similar sort of deprivation and wealth issues. Serving a very diverse public is part of the appeal for people like me and the staff that have been here for years.
"It's the kind of place I like to work. I think it's nice to have a hospital that is the scale you can really get to know.
"Here we have 80 consultants - Whittington had a 100 and I knew every consultant personally. This is really important, because otherwise you're managing based on information given to you by other people rather than your own experience. There's 1,600 staff here, but I think that's manageable."
"I like to be visible and for people to know I'm around, but I don't micro manage. I like to have a balance. It's important to chat to people about their issues and if we've implemented something, how is it working?
"My first two weeks have been delightful. I've met a lot of the staff and they've made me feel very welcome, and I'm very impressed with what I've seen so far."
Tara is well aware that she has a tough job to carry out, but is ready for the challenge. She said: "West Mid is a big plan - it's part way through a very interesting journey.
"What I'll be doing initially is a lot of listening to find out what's working and what needs to be changed, and how we can achieve our aim of offering first-class care."
"We're hoping the better communication between the hospital and the community will pay off in the long term.
"Another big issue for us is preventing illness at the earliest stage, and going the extra mile to help people can make all the difference.
"We have a fantastic new website, thanks to Jane Brennan, head of corporate affairs and Richard Elliott, web development manager. It looks great, but the content is really extensive. There have been a huge amount of hits already, and the feedback has been fantastic.
"We're encouraging people to use the new site as much as possible, because it's the best way to find where your local GP is.
"Communication with the community is key, and we're also trying to promote the hospital with regular newsletters to make the public aware of how the hospital works and how it can be of benefit, and raise our profile at the same time."
Tara and her family have settled in to their new surroundings, despite some teething problems: "We've gone West and set up our new home in Chiswick, which is a lovely place.
"The move was good, although my son Jamie is only six months and he's learning to crawl - he's has mastered going backwards but not forwards - so we keep finding him wedged under the sofa."
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