Happy new year! I hope you’re looking forward to 2024 and what it will bring for Nottingham CityCare as much as I am.

Over the coming months we will be continuing to implement our ambitious plans to deliver the most effective and efficient care to the people and communities we serve.

Our mission is to make a difference every day to the health and wellbeing of our communities and, as the health and care landscape develops, we must also grow and adapt to improve and transform the care we deliver.

We know our people are our most important asset and, through engagement and consultation, we are working hard to ensure that everyone has the chance to be heard and – just as importantly – we are listening and responding openly and honestly to what they say.

Feedback from staff during 2023 prompted us to develop an ambitious programme of engagement, training, and improvement for the whole organisation. We are proud of the progress we have made this year to become a more inclusive employer and are looking forward to continuing to improve the experiences of all colleagues.

During the coming months we will also be looking at how we engage more with the people and communities we serve.

We must ensure everyone has equal access to our services and receives the same quality and experience of care, and we are listening to their voices – so we can better understand and match our care with their needs.

As a social enterprise we play a key role in creating long-term sustainable improvements in our communities and better listening and being more responsive to the “patient voice” will help us understand how we deliver care as well as our wider role in improving people’s lives, reducing health inequalities and playing our part in helping to create resilient, aspirational communities.

Listening and responding to both our workforce and our patients will play a crucial part in our transformation programme and the changes it will bring across the whole of Nottingham CityCare.

We are also expecting the health and care regulator, the Care Quality Commission, to pay us a visit at some point during 2024. As well as outlining plans for areas where we know we need to improve, this will be our chance to demonstrate the great care we provide each day as well as celebrating our successes, our innovations, and our brilliant teams.

Thank you to everyone at Nottingham CityCare and across the health and social care system who worked over Christmas and new year. Hopefully, we all managed to get some of that all-important down time at some point and we’re looking forward to the year ahead.

Each day will be another chance to make a difference to the health and wellbeing of our communities.