I hope this finds you well.

It’s hard to believe that I’ve only been at the Trust for two weeks. I’ve enjoyed getting out and about meeting many of my fantastic colleagues and partners. Take a look at my latest video diary.

The NHS is very busy just now, with GPs, community services and hospitals under huge pressure. This means some patients wait too long to get the care they need, and that our own staff are often working in very difficult conditions.

One of the things I’ve been keen to do is to see the initiatives we’ve introduced to try to reduce waits to access urgent and emergency care at both of our sites.

One such initiative is our frailty units, which we have at both hospitals. They treat elderly patients who come in for emergency care in an environment designed to suit their specific needs.

Speaking with the Beech frailty unit team at King George Hospital recently, it was evident to me just how passionate the team are about providing great care.

Another initiative is our Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC), which aims to treat more complex patients on the same day. This should reduce the need for patients to be admitted to hospital.

Initiatives like these will help improve the flow of patients throughout our hospitals and create a better working environment for our staff. This will ensure we can treat people more quickly, resulting in better care and shorter stays.

Join our Annual General Meeting (AGM)

As well as meeting many of our staff and stakeholders, I’m also looking forward to hosting our 2021 AGM on Thursday 30 September. The meeting will take place from 10am to 12noon and I’d be delighted if you could join us.

It will be held virtually via MS Teams and will be a great opportunity for me to introduce myself to many of you, while also reflecting on our achievements during such a difficult time.

Our Chair Mike Bell and I look forward to welcoming you. Please do share details with your colleagues.

Temporary Birth Centre closure for essential critical care works

One of the areas hit hardest during the pandemic was critical care. We did an amazing job increasing our capacity when it was needed most and we are now building a brand new Critical Care Unit (CCU).

Due to open at Queen’s Hospital at the end of this year, our purpose built CCU will be crucial in helping us manage patients safely during winter months.

Essential building works are currently taking place to support the development of the CCU on the fourth floor at Queen’s and our Birth Centre will be temporarily closed for women in labour from Friday 3 September, reopening Monday 13 September.

During this short period, pregnant women due to give birth will go to our Labour Ward and of course our maternity team are on hand to answer their queries.

Clinical strategy survey – have your say

As well as looking at the here and now, I advised you last week how we are also refreshing our clinical strategy to ensure we deliver sustainable high-quality services to our residents now and into the future.

We must involve our communities and partners in the refresh and the first stage of this is to understand how patients access services across the whole system.

If you haven’t done so already, there is not long left to complete and share our survey.

Working closely with colleagues and stakeholders across north east London to garner feedback, we will also be hosting a series of public events for local residents to have their say in the coming weeks.

Kind regards,

Matthew Trainer
Chief Executive