Providing the very best patient experience isn’t about treatment alone, equally as important are the facilities and tools we provide our staff with, so they can provide the best care.

Following continued investment in our critical care and emergency departments, we’ve made fantastic progress in upgrading facilities at our hospitals. The most recent is the Intensive Therapy Unit (ITU) at King George Hospital (KGH), which has been transformed following a £5m investment.

Earlier today (1 July) our Chair Jacqui Smith and I were delighted to welcome local politicians for a tour of the ITU, which will be crucial in helping us manage critical care demand and reduce our backlog. As you will see in my latest video diary, we were joined by Ilford South MP Sam Tarry, and Redbridge Council’s Leader Jas Athwal, Health Scrutiny Committee Chair Beverley Brewer, Vice Chair Sunny Brar and Chief Executive Claire Symonds.

Renovated in just 10 months since the first design drawings were created, the ITU has been revamped and increased from eight to 12 beds. I’m delighted that we’ve been able to create a fantastic environment for our critically ill patients, which will also have a positive impact on the wellbeing of our staff.

Other upgrades in recent months include the openings of our £5m state-of-the-art Emergency Department at KGH, our £7.5 Jubilee ITU at Queen’s Hospital and our expanded Radiology department.

North East London (NEL) leads way on cancer standards performance

As a Trust, our innovative work to reduce waiting lists is helping patients receive treatment as quickly as possible. But as I’ve said previously, we must work in collaboration with partners across NEL to ensure residents receive the best emergency and planned care.

I was delighted with this week’s announcement that people in NEL are being diagnosed with cancer sooner and are receiving quicker access to treatment thanks to collaborative work between NHS teams. At our Trust, three out of every four patients are being diagnosed or having cancer ruled out within 28 days of being referred to us by their GP, in line with the NHS’s Faster Diagnostic Standard, and in April we exceeded the target of 93% of patients being seen by a specialist within two weeks of a referral.

The latest national data on cancer standards from NHS England and NHS Improvement shows that NEL is the top performing cancer alliance in the country in six out of 10 cancer waits standards.

The North East London Cancer Alliance brings together clinical and managerial leaders from different hospital trusts and other health and social care organisations, to ensure cancer patients receive the diagnosis and care they need.

We are proud to be part of the Cancer Alliance and our staff continue to play a significant role. However, we know that cancer can be treated more effectively the earlier it is caught, and we are continuing to work as a system to improve and increase diagnostic capacity.

An example of this is the additional equipment at Barking Community Hospital Community Diagnostic Centre, which is helping treat patients faster and work is under way to expand this service, which I’m excited about. 

Well done to all involved.

Best wishes.

Matthew Trainer
Chief Executive