Notice Football wasn't on my list of must do's for the day! Despite the fact that I will admit to thinking Sir Alex was an amazing manager and Manchester United haven't quite been the same since he retired!
And no, it wasn't a burning desire to get to grips with 'Devo Manc' that got me up bright and early on a very damp, dreary morning to board the Virgin train to Manchester.
The thing that got me up, got me inquisitive, was an invitation to #transformtogether.
The invitation didn't come from a gym, a personal fitness coach or a cosmetic surgery clinic. The invitation came from a group of people on a journey. A journey of cultural change, staff empowerment, innovation and transformation.
A group of people who through shared learning have delivered over £9 million in savings through transformational change in the last year.
A group of people who embraced FabChangeDay, showcased over 60 change projects on FabChangeDay and submitted over 300 pledges. Where celebrating success and awarding and recognising success is now the norm.A group of people who consider that change and quality is part of their day jobs, where ever they work.
A group of people who welcomed a stranger, gave up their time to explain their service innovations and were passionate about how they were improving patient experience and outcomes.
A group of people who are prepared to learn from each others developments, who steal with pride and have no time for the 'if it wasn't developed on this unit it won't work' mentality.
A group of people who embrace technology, virtual reality training is real here. And for whom data and live dashboards are welcomed in improving patient 'flow' and minimising waiting times - for example a person attending regularly for treatment for macular degeneration used to spend 68% of their visit in the waiting room between assessments and treatment. Now a live dashboard within the specialist department shows the patients flow through the service, 
allowing the manager to see immediately if there is a delay and backlog of patients within a certain area and divert staff there to ensure patients spend less time waiting. Supported by Q and an amazing IT team these developments have far reaching spread.A group of people who are genuinely supportive of their colleagues success, no 'tall poppy' syndrome here. I listened to managers proudly promoting and
supporting nurses as they presented their nurse led service initiatives.A group of people where inter professional competition and
protectionism plays no part. I met surgeons whose surgical outcomes are enhanced by ground breaking services developed by their allied health professional colleagues, working together to enhance outcomes for patients with complex conditions.
A group of people who don't just talk 'what matters to 
me', they live it. They actively engage patients, carers and staff to ensure they understand what matters to them.
A general manager totally focused on ensuring the clinical teams within the specialist eye hospital, were empowered to provide the best clinical experience for their patients.
Who are they?
They are the staff at Central Manchester NHS Foundation Trust. Together they are @CMFT_Transform and you can see what they are working together to achieve here http://www.cmft.nhs.uk/your-trust/transforming-care-for-the-future
My day with them was action packed and I couldn't aspire to do justice to their enthusiasm, passion, motivation, achievements and innovation. What I have done is give you a snapshot of my day.
But fear not, all of the amazing projects and services that I got to see will be published very soon on the website. Using the hashtag #CMFTTransformTogether you will be able to view all of their work.
So keep an eye out for #CMFTTransformTogether and I promise you that you won't be disappointed.
Thank you CMFT - an amazing day with an amazing group of Blondes!
