Printable version
A PDF version of our We care strategy 2023-28 for you to download and print out.
What matters to you?
Whether you are a patient or carer, part of our incredible #TeamKCHFT, or you work with us to deliver care to our communities – this question has been at the forefront of our minds, as we’ve developed our five-year We care strategy.
As we recover from a pandemic which held up a mirror to the health inequalities faced by our communities, we know things have to radically change if, as a health and care system, we are going to improve the experience of our patients and the people working in the NHS.
We truly believe in the power of community services to create this change.
In this strategy, which has been co-designed by listening to what’s important to you, we’ve focused on four big ambitions that will make the biggest improvements to the quality of care our communities receive.
Like all health, social care and voluntary sector organisations in Kent and Medway, we need to set out a strategy that aligns with our partners.
This strategy can’t convey every complexity of the challenges that we know we will face. But by working together we can take the power of community care further than ever before for the benefit of our communities.
Mairead McCormick
Chief Executive officer
Our vision
A community that supports each other to live well.
Our mission
To empower adults and children to live well, to be the best employer and work with our partners as one.
Our values
Compassionate
We put patients and our service users at the heart of everything we do. We’re positive, kind and polite. We understand diversity. We’re respectful, patient and tolerant.
Aspirational
We feel empowered and we empower our patients. We strive to improve. Our focus is on research and generating ideas and innovations. We’re open, transparent and we think creatively.
Responsive
We listen. We act. We communicate clearly. We do what we say we will. We take account of the opinions of others.
Excellent
We strive to deliver the best care we can. We grow a culture of excellence in our teams. We challenge complacency.
Our ambitions
Putting communities first
Everyone has the same opportunity to lead a healthy life, no matter where they live or who they are.
Key areas of focus
- Reducing health inequalities and preventing ill-health.
- Reducing the time people wait for our services.
Our target
- Achieve less than a one per cent gap in missed appointment rates between the most and least deprived communities.
Everyone should have the same opportunity to lead a healthy life, no matter who they are or where they live.
We know not everyone finds it easy to seek advice, explain their needs to a health professional or know what support they could benefit from.
We will tailor services and interventions to make it easier for people to access our help, taking away the barriers and reaching out more effectively when they need us.
One of those barriers can be the time some people wait to be assessed or receive treatment or support. We will strive to reduce waiting times for patients, clients and service users.
We will focus on reducing health inequalities through our prevention services, providing an excellent patient and carer experience and ensuring the best patient outcomes for all.
Better patient experience
Our conversations focus on what matters to the patient, so they get the right care, in the right place.
Key areas of focus
- Recovery and rehabilitation pathways.
- Supporting more people at home through integrated neighbourhood working.
- Re-thinking our community hospital model.
Our target
- 87 per cent of patients wait less than their service waiting time target, by March 2027.
We will ask people ‘what matters to you?’ so we can provide our patients, clients and service users with the right care, in the right place.
We know too often people end up in a hospital bed, when they don’t need to be and then they stay too long, which can impact on their ability to regain their independence.
If our teams work better together, across health and social care, providing seamless care with our voluntary sector partners too, we can change this.
We want to give teams the freedom and flexibility to act to meet the needs of our patients and their carers, whether this is providing hospital-level care at home, or a shorter stay in our hospitals, where they get better faster.
We will provide intensive rehabilitation for patients who need it to reduce their length of stay and get them back to a place they call home, where they want to be.
This will mean re-thinking the design and condition of our community hospitals, so they are better set up to provide the most effective rehabilitation and recovery.
End-of-life patients and their carers will be supported to stay comfortable and pain free in an environment of their choice.
A great place to work
Our colleagues are valued, feel heard and make changes easily to deliver better care.
Key areas of focus
- Recruitment and retention.
- Maximising staff voice and wellbeing.
- Improving culture and ways of working.
- Making sure ‘nobody is left behind’.
- Leadership, devolving authority and succession planning.
Our target
- We increase our staff engagement score to 7.5 out of 10, as measured by the NHS Staff Survey, from 7.3 in March 23.
- We increase our staff morale score to 6.4 out of 10, as measured by the NHS Staff Survey, from 6.23 in March 23.
We will do everything we can to make sure our people look forward to coming to work, achieve their full potential and feel pride in a job well done.
Creating a culture of listening to staff and valuing their voice will be at the centre of what we do so colleagues feel heard.
We will actively address issues of equity, diversity and inclusion, making sure all our people feel listened to, valued, safe and part of a team, so nobody is left behind.
Tackling issues of inequality in succession planning and raising up colleagues from under-represented groups, will be a key focus.
We will encourage bravery and kindness, so together, we can make changes to improve things for each other, for our patients and our communities.
Sustainable care
We will live within our means to deliver outstanding care, in the right buildings, supported by technology, and reduce our carbon footprint.
Key areas of focus
- Making better use of our estates.
- Reducing our carbon footprint.
- Digital transformation and reducing time spent on administration.
Our target
- Staff spend less time on admin processes that don’t add value to patient care by March 2027.
NHS estates and buildings should be fit-for-purpose and able to support effective and efficient patient rehabilitation and recovery.
They should provide the best possible environment for our teams, so our people can work in buildings that provide good accessibility for patients and staff and minimise our impact on the environment.
We should not waste resources on things that don’t contribute to good patient care, for example unnecessary administration or frustrating IT processes.
We will make sure our people have everything they need to do their job well now and in the future, including making best use of NHS estates and buildings.
We will strive to make the best use of new technology, reducing unnecessary journeys and delivering innovation in how we share patient information.
We will encourage teams to think about working in more sustainable ways and limit our use of non-renewable resources.
Enabling strategies
Read more about our enabling we care strategies.