The Mooch University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay

In our first mooch, Morecambe Bay Foundation Trust CEO Aaron Cummins talks to Director of Corporate Affairs Phil Woodford about the new strategy launched by the Trust earlier this year. We hear about some of the key aspects of the strategy, what it means for both patients and staff and how it differs from the Trust's clinical strategy. Aaron gives some insight into the contentious issue of car parking around our hospitals, and he and Phil talk about what great care should look like.

Aaron also shares his thoughts on the challenges facing the new Secretary of State for Health who was announced on the same day the episode was recorded.

The episode was recorded on 6 September and released on 13 October.

You can follow Aaron on Twitter (https://twitter.com/aaroncumminsNHS) or find out more about the Trust at https://www.uhmb.nhs.uk.

The Mooch. A strange name you might think for a podcast, but this trailer gives you a sneak peek into what it's all about, why we are launching it, and what to expect in each episode, with the first in the series due out in September 2022.

With a workforce of around 9,000 and growing, it is important that we constantly look at a wide range of cost-effective methods to communicate and engage with all our colleagues. That is why, based on colleague feedback, we have decided to launch our own UHMBT Podcast - led by Aaron Cummins, our Chief Executive - to supplement all the other ways that we have to keep in touch with colleagues; and where possible our stakeholders, including the public and our membership.

What will the podcast cover? Essentially, everything about UHMBT's community and hospital services. We will inviting colleagues and partners from all areas to join Aaron and talk about what is going on in their areas and the things that really matter to them, their colleagues and their patients.

We want this to be more than just something to listen to. We want to hear from you - what do you want to hear about? Perhaps you would like to take part and share your views? We would really like to hear from colleagues and teams who want to share with everybody how their services are getting on - what is going well along? What could be better? How are they ensuring their services are 'patient first'?

Later this year, we also hope to take the podcast out on the road to hear from colleagues in their departments about how things feel for them along with examples of service improvement. We’ll also hopefully speak to one or two patients about their experiences in our services as well.

So, hit the 'subscribe' button and email us with your feedback and thoughts to themoochpodcast@mbht.nhs.uk.