Quality and Improvement champion steps down
Dr Chris Gordon, our quality improvement champion and architect of our WeImprove approach, is stepping down from his long association with the trust.
He is retiring as group director of improvement and transformation next month, although will continue his NHS clinical practice as a consultant specialising in older people and movement disorders like Parkinson’s.
Colleagues paid tribute to his leadership since he started working with us eight years ago as an improvement director for the then NHS Improvement, covering two other trusts as well as Barts Health. He then formally joined us as our own in-house improvement director in 2018.
Yet Chris’ association with our hospitals goes back even further, as he trained at St Bartholomew’s hospital as a Senior House Officer in 1995, progressing to Registrar.
He leaves us with an enduring legacy in the WeImprove approach, which is steadily being embedded across the group with thousands of staff now trained in quality improvement techniques at varying levels.
Chris steered our pioneering partnership with the international Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and has recently prepared the ground for our ambition to translate WeImprove into a fully-fledged quality management system covering all aspects of our work.
He also oversaw our local implementation of the national Patient Safety Incident Response Framework, and was responsible for rolling out the Care Co-Ordination Solution tool to manage waiting lists and schedule theatre sessions.
Chris played a key role during the pandemic, when he was medical director for the NHS Covid-19 vaccination centre we set up at the Excel conference centre in Newham after the temporary NHS Nightingale hospital for London was stood down.
Caroline Alexander, group chief nurse, said: “Chris started supporting us when we were in special measures and throughout his time here has demonstrated great clinical and quality leadership. He was a fantastic ally during the pandemic and now leaves us with the building blocks firmly in place for adopting a total quality management system.”
Alistair Chesser, group Chief Medical Officer, said: “Chris brought his immense expertise and experience to bear in helping steer us out of special measures, and then embed our culture and ways of working with improvement science. Many of us will throughout our careers be building on work which started with him.
“I personally owe Chris a great debt of gratitude. He has always been willing to pay time and attention to what is needed, leading many departments out of difficulty and supporting their leadership development. During the pandemic he was everywhere, taking the vital role of medical leader on infection control. His care and wisdom gave confidence and assurance that our staff and patients were being kept safe and were being as well cared for as possible.”
During his time with us Chris continued to practice one day a week as a geriatrician for his local NHS trust, Hampshire Hospitals, a role he will continue. Following Chris' departure the Improvement and Transformation team will continue its work in alignment with Trust priorities, the annual plan and preparations for deploying a quality management system, though reporting to Rebecca Carlton, group chief operating officer.
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