Update from Chief Officer, Gail Woodcock
Sharing my priorities after one month in post
I must start by thanking my colleagues, both old and new, for their warm welcome upon my recent appointment as the Partnership’s new Chief Officer.
Now just over a month in post, it has been a pleasure to meet new colleagues and to connect with familiar faces in my new role.
As I already knew, our Partnership services are full of dedicated and enthusiastic individuals, committed to delivering high quality care and support. But we know this positive drive and willpower is also met with national and local challenges which we must navigate together.
So, it is after settling in as the Partnership’s new Chief Officer, that I set out my priorities, to help us achieve the best we can for our services and people of Falkirk:
It will be no surprise, that a strong financial footing is required to give services a sustainable route ahead. Across Scotland, our local services continue to meet increasing demand with finite resources. We must be clear about the tough decisions we will make together and give clarity to services.
To support us in achieving this, I look forward to welcoming our new Chief Financial Officer at the end of this month, who will take over from the Interim CFO, Mark Fairley.
To lead us through any period of change – we need bold, effective leadership, ensuring the right skills and right support, in the right place for our teams. Prior to my appointment as Chief Officer, the Partnership agreed to review its leadership structure, a process which will be taken forward over the coming months.
To support this review, we have appointed an Interim Head of Integration, Caroline Doherty, and will soon also appoint an Interim post holder of Carolines’ previous Central Locality Manager position. These secondment roles provide continuity while identifying our longer-term leadership requirements.
With supportive leadership in place across our services, we can continue our journey to progress whole system transformation to enable long-term sustainability of health and social care services.
We will continue to explore the integration of services; the use of new technology and digital approaches within service delivery; and focus on the preventative and early intervention measures which can help people live well for longer and reduce demand upon our services.
Lastly, I wish to make clear my intention and desire to lead with an open and collaborative approach. I will always value your ideas, feedback, and insight to help shape and grow our Partnership.
I look forward to sharing frequent updates about our work together – through written updates like this; future staff sessions; and any other ways which suit you. In the meantime, I welcome your thoughts about the direction we are heading together, with an open door available to all wishing to set up time to meet with your teams to discuss.
Thank you for your continued support,
Gail Woodcock
Chief Officer
Falkirk Health and Social Care Partnership
In summary, my priorities as Chief Officer:
- A strong financial footing.
- Bold, effective, leadership.
- Supporting whole system transformation
- An open, collaborative approach.