The demand for treatment continues to grow and we are working hard to reduce waiting lists, which I spoke about in my presentation during our recent Care Quality Commission (CQC) visit.

We held our latest ‘super’ clinic earlier this month, which saw our Gynaecology ‘Perfect’ Week treat 81 women. It would usually take around a month to complete this number of operations, but by concentrating our resources we were able to carry out well above the usual number of procedures in a week.

Our ‘super’ clinics have been recognised across the NHS and featured in the national plan to tackle the backlog. They are a great example of co-production, with clerical and clinical colleagues working together to deliver a better experience for patients.

These clinics are proving successful; the number of patients waiting 18 months or more reduced from 474 in July to 59 at the beginning of October – the largest reduction of any trust in London.

Planned investment in our hospitals will also play a key role in treating patients quicker. I shared last week that we’ve received government funding for a £14m Surgical Hub at King George Hospital, which will see us complete, on average, at least 16 additional operations per day.

We’ve also submitted a planning application for the proposed Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) at Barking Community Hospital, which would provide more tests and scans for north east London residents.

It would also mean those living in Barking and Dagenham could access services such as MRI, CT and ultrasound on their doorstep, away from busy acute hospitals. We hope to receive a response early in the new year.

Macmillan award win for doing ‘whatever it takes’

Congratulations to our Enhanced Supportive Care (ESC) team, who have won a Macmillan Professional Excellence award in the Whatever it Takes category.

The award recognises teams and individuals going to extraordinary lengths for cancer patients and I know how hard the team works, often going above and beyond for the people they care for.

Our ESC team is the only nurse-led ESC service in the country and they make a huge difference to our patients, offering palliative care expertise to people with incurable cancer right from their diagnosis.

Best wishes.

Matthew Trainer
Chief Executive