Review of strategic objectives and priorities (February 2025)

The Trust strategy runs from 2023 to 2025, and was due to be reviewed and a new strategy launched in May 2025. As the Trust is undertaking a programme of integration with Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, this full refresh of the strategy will take place as part of the integration programme with a joint interim strategy launching in 2026. 

To ensure that the strategy remains valid, relevant and supports the Trust to achieve its three strategic aims, a review of the strategic objectives, priorities, measures of success and the strategic content of the 2023 to 2025 document has been carried out. The updates and additions to the objectives and priorities are detailed within this addendum to the Trust strategy. 

The updated and added strategic objectives and priorities have been discussed and agreed with Trust executives, relevant departments throughout the organisation and the Trust Board. The monitoring and reporting arrangements to ensure successful delivery remain unchanged.

Quality

1. Patient safety: We will enhance our patients' safety and develop a learning culture where quality and safety is everyone’s top responsibility.

1.1 - We will keep our patients, service users and staff safe from harm through the delivery of harm free care.

1.2 - We will create a culture where the safety of patients, their relatives and our staff is our foremost priority.

1.3 - Design and support safety programmes that deliver effective and sustainable change.

2. Clinical effectiveness: We will ensure practice is based on evidence so that we do the right things in the right way, to achieve the right outcomes for our patients.

2.1 - We will make sure we ‘get it right first time’ by providing consistent care and supporting productivity improvement projects which deliver the best outcomes for our patients.

2.2 - We will prioritise the application of quality improvement (QI) training to empower staff and achieve measurable improvement work with identifiable learning and sustainable results.

2.3 - We will work with our partners to understand and address the causes of health inequality to help people stay in control of their own health.

3. Patient experience: We will place the quality of patient experience at the heart of all we do.

3.1 - We will ensure a positive patient experience, enhancing the experience of our patients and service users.

3.2 - We will maintain our focus on patients and their families’ equality, diversity and inclusion.

3.3 - The patients and the publics’ voice is integral in the decision-making process when making changes to services or care delivery.

4. Research, development and innovation: We will work in partnership on high quality clinical research for the benefit of patients, public and staff.

4.1 - To develop, lead and deliver research that improves the health and wellbeing of our community.

4.2 - To build and sustain a skilled and motivated workforce to deliver high quality research and drive excellence across disciplines.

4.3 - To increase the scale and breadth of high-quality research undertaken through partnership working across industry, academia and health and social care, aligning research to the needs of our community. 

People

5. Looking after our people: We will prioritise the safety, health, wellbeing and experience of our people to ensure work has a positive impact.

5.7 - We will understand where there are workplace inequalities and take action address them.

5.8 - We will ensure that all individuals and teams have measurable objectives on equality, diversity and inclusion.

6. Innovating the way we work: We will embrace new ways of working to attract and retain an engaged, responsive, diverse and flexible workforce to care for our patients.

6.7 - We will create continuous improvement processes, seeking feedback from staff networks and other groups.

6.8 - We will provide clear and inspiring pathways to address under-representation of our staff with protected characteristics.

7. Growing our workforce for the future: We will support personal and professional development, ensuring equal access to opportunities, and nurture, grow and develop diverse teams.

7.7 - We will recognise and sponsor high potential individuals from under-represented backgrounds to enable them to fulfil their potential with a clear development plan.

7.8 - We will use and monitor key equality, diversity and inclusion indicators to develop diverse teams.

8. Belonging in WHH: We will enable staff to have a voice through the development of a just and learning culture.

8.7 - We will understand, encourage and celebrate diversity ensuring that we equip staff with the equality, diversity and inclusion knowledge to be inclusive allies, recognising that although staff may not be a member of a marginalised group(s), they are able to support others.

8.8 - We will develop leaders and managers to build on existing interventions and develop new mechanisms to support all staff to speak up and feel heard, without fear of reprisal.

Sustainability

9. Working in partnership: We will collaboratively work to provide sustainable, high quality acute services and to support prevention and integrated care in the community. 

9.2 - We will collaborate with primary care, community care, social care and all community partners, including the voluntary sector to support the provision of integrated care across Halton and Warrington.

9.3 - We will review opportunities to provide services more locally for our residents who currently travel to specialist Trusts, in line with local and regional opportunities. 

9.4 - We will realise opportunities to deliver excellent patient care and experience and to improve access and address health inequalities aligned to the principle of right service, delivered in the right place. 

9.5 - We will work with partners across our places to enhance the resilience of our Urgent and Emergency Care system, improving patient experience. 

9.6 - We will develop a programme of integration with our local community Trust to improve patient outcomes and experience, improve operational delivery and improve financial sustainability. 

12. Finance sustainability: We will act according to our duty to collaborate, by working with partners on shared financial objectives to achieve sustainability of the Trust and the wider Cheshire and Merseyside system. 

12.4 - We will pursue commercial and growth opportunities where in line with Trust strategy to improve the sustainability of the Trust and the services we provide. 

12.5 - We will deliver improvements to Trust productivity.