Chief executive update

June 2026

Welcome to this regular update for all our stakeholders.

I would like to begin by congratulating our Chief of Nursing and Therapies, Lorraine Galligan, on receiving the William Rathbone X Award from the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) in recognition of outstanding nursing leadership, including support for colleagues and positive outcomes for patients. Well done, Lorraine!

At Trust Board this month, we took two big decisions in approving the blueprint for a locality-based structure as part of our Future Operating Model and signing off our new Digital and Information Delivery Plan. Taken together, the blueprint for a locality-based structure for the Trust and our commitment to digital technology are both important parts of setting us up for success for the next five years. 

We have made a solid start to 2026/7 and are finalising delivery plans for the year ahead. We have submitted our bid in response to the City Council’s tender for an integrated 0 - 19 years Healthy Child Programme. Our proposal brings together health visiting, school nursing and early years provision within Family Hubs to deliver a district-based approach for children and young people and their families. This is an important tender for our future as an all-age provider of integrated care for the people of Birmingham and we look forward to the next stages of the process.

We have continued to strengthen our partnership with General Practice through the GP Partnership Board and the GP Provider Support unit. We have also sought to play our part in developing the “anchor contract” model led by University Hospitals Birmingham, a central part of the Birmingham and Solihull ICB’s approach to strategic commissioning, which aims to deliver greater integration of care pathways across organisations and support the delivery of neighbourhood health services in our city. 

Safe, High-Quality Care

Our waiting times performance remains in line with our plans with the vast majority of our longest waiting patients in neurodevelopmental services, where we have more than 10,000 children and young people waiting over a year for autism and ADHD assessments, nearly half of those having waited over two years.

The Integrated Care Board (ICB) has confirmed funding for our alternative offer of support for another year and will review plans for a larger recurrent investment in Autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) services at its July board meeting. In the meantime, finalising a plan to redesign our assessment pathways to provide stronger, earlier triage of referrals and clearer advice on the support available at an early stage in the pathway is a priority. 
 

Integrated Care

We continue our work to become a more digitally enabled organisation, extending our use of AI so that we can really test in earnest its potential to improve high volume administrative processes and strengthen clinical decision support systems.

In our Community Care Collaborative work, we continue to improve the effectiveness of our five locality hubs, particularly focussing on parts of the city where data shows the biggest opportunity for short-term improvement in use of hospital capacity. The roll-out of integrated neighbourhood teams remains on track, with the aim of full coverage throughout Birmingham by March 2027. Meanwhile, the redesign of inpatient intermediate care services continues, with the opening imminent of 16 beds at Perry Tree Centre in Kingstanding following last year’s review of care centres citywide.

We continue to support the development of an initial pipeline for Neighbourhood Health Centres, with additional capital resources already committed to enhancing the service offer at locality hubs. The refurbishment of Sutton Coldfield Cottage Hospital is complete , with the relocation of a GP practice as part of an integrated neighbourhood hub for frail older people.

 

Future Operating Model

We have reached an important milestone in our programme to develop a new Future Operating Model, with the production of our “blueprint” for a locality-based structure that will enable us to work closely with partners in localities and neighbourhoods to deliver integrated care that meets the needs of patients in their communities.

The next steps include setting out a more detailed structure based on the blueprint alongside an implementation plan for the end of June.

Finally, a word on the publication this month of Lord Mann's report on racism and antisemitism in the NHS . We have been considering the detail of the report over the past week and it represents an important moment to re-commit to ensure that Team BCHC is a place in which no one experiences discrimination, whether from managers or colleagues, and in which we do all we can to keep everyone feeling safe at work.

With a diverse workforce drawing from many cultures and serving one of the most diverse cities in the country we know how important it is to live up to “inclusive” in our organisational values and deliver our anti-racism commitment in practice. Lord Mann’s recommendations help us to do that and we will reinforce our efforts to ensure that Team BCHC is a truly inclusive organisation. 

Best wishes,

Richard  

 

Richard Kirby

Chief Executive

richard.kirby@nhs.net