I hope this finds you well.

Autumn has arrived and that means winter is around the corner. We have a challenging time ahead as we tackle the pandemic, continue to reduce our waiting lists, and deal with winter pressures.          

Working with our partners in the NHS and local authorities will help us meet higher demand and I’m encouraged by the ways we are already working together to benefit our patients and residents.

Our frailty units are an example of this, where frail elderly patients can be cared for without having to wait in the Emergency Department. This has brought together primary and community care, social care, and London Ambulance.

Emergency Department colleagues have also been working with paramedics to test an Ambulance Reception Centre, jointly staffed by paramedics and our nurses and HCAs, to reduce ambulance handover delays and improve the experience of our patients.

There are Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) pressures across the whole system. Daily calls with partners across north east London help us understand how busy different sites are, allowing us to work together to manage demand when it gets very high.

As you will have also seen in our recent ‘Closer collaboration’ document, we are doing lots with Barts Health to deliver better care to our communities. The newly launched Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge (BHR) Health and Care Academy will also offer rewarding careers to residents.  Thank you to our Chief Nurse Kathryn Halford, who is the Senior Responsible Officer for this fantastic training initiative.

Join our Annual General Meeting (AGM)

We will have a further opportunity to look forward at the months ahead, as well as the chance to reflect on our achievements during a difficult past 12 to 18 months, at our AGM.

I’m looking forward to introducing myself at the event tomorrow (Thursday 30 September) between 10am to 12noon, and I hope that you will be able to join us.

It will be held virtually via MS Teams. Please do let others know.

Become a patient partner

I’m delighted to see our volunteers and patient partners back at our hospitals.

They are an extremely important part of our teams and the time they dedicate to help others makes a big difference.

We’re currently recruiting new patient partners who will continue to help us understand what matters most to our patients, ensuring their voices are heard.

If you or someone you know may be interested in these voluntary roles, please email our Patient Experience team.

All opportunities to get involved with our Trust are on our website.

My Conversations

Our staff are tired and we must support them as much as we can, acknowledging that everyone has different wellbeing needs.

While developing our mental and physical health support services and refurbishing staff areas, an important new step is the introduction of a new framework for performance and wellbeing reviews.

‘My Conversations’ offer a holistic approach, providing staff members with the opportunity for colleagues to discuss wellbeing, performance and career aspirations with their manager.

For staff, this new framework links team objectives with individual goals, while also ensuring they feel valued, heard and appreciated.

It also supports managers by providing a platform for them to listen, strengthen relationships and encourage psychological safety to ensure our staff have what they need to flourish.

As always, I will continue to keep you updated in these newsletters and my video diaries.

Kind regards,

Matthew Trainer
Chief Executive