I hope this finds you well.

Following the Government’s announcement that we will remain in Step 3 of the roadmap out of lockdown a little longer, let’s continue to do all we can to make north east London safer for our communities.

While restrictions have been eased for those visiting care homes or celebrating a wedding, please do continue to follow the latest social distance guidelines and get tested if you have any symptoms. Many people can also be asymptomatic, so I do encourage regular free lateral flow tests.  

London Stadium vaccination event

The effort to vaccinate communities in our boroughs has been incredible and so far more than 1.5 million jabs have been given in north east London. If you’re eligible for the vaccine and haven’t booked your appointment yet, please do so.

As the vaccination programme continues, NHS partners across north east London are working together to run a mass vaccination event this Saturday (19 June) at the London Stadium in the Olympic Park, Stratford.

The event will be open to all eligible people across north east London who are yet to receive their first dose. It will be by appointment only.

A special booking link has been created for the day, so please do share this important message with local residents.

More details are available on the North East London Health & Care Partnership website.

Temporary service relocations

As part of our ongoing work to restart services, we are ensuring we have Covid-safe measures in place to protect our patients and staff.

Continuing in our recovery from Covid-19, commissioners at North East London CCG have agreed to an urgent temporary relocation of two of our community services.

From yesterday (Tuesday 15 June), Community dermatology services have moved from Barking Community Hospital (BCH) to Queen’s Hospital for a period of six to 12 months. A dermatology service will still operate at BCH at weekends, provided by community services provider DCM.

The move allows for the continuity of dermatology services in terms of capacity, while a small number of specialist nurses – usually based at BCH – are on maternity leave.

This temporary move also sees our Gastroenterology services move into the vacated space at BCH, freeing up ward space at Queen’s Hospital to support the urgent, post-Covid expansion of our non-elective work.  This move is due to take place by early July, subject to the relocation of specialist equipment.

During the pandemic, this service has been provided in an independent hospital setting to meet Covid-safe requirements. The service will remain at BCH for six to 12 months while a long-term solution is explored.

We are talking directly to affected patients and we will continue to keep stakeholders updated.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Lead Medical Examiner appointed

As a Trust, we’re always striving to be better and do better. We are committed to improving the quality of our care and I’m delighted to announce that we’ve appointed a Lead Medical Examiner for the first time.

Peter Tanner, a consultant pathologist, has been at our Trust for more than 30 years and will work alongside our clinicians following the death of a patient to help improve the entire certification process and provide additional support to bereaved relatives and clinical teams.

We’re extremely proud of the diverse communities we serve and as part of Peter’s role, he will also interact with our faith communities, ensuring religious customs involving death and burial are abided by.

Learning Disability Week

Around 1.5 million people in the UK have a learning disability. While many of us know someone with a learning disability, we may have a friend or work with a colleague whose disability isn’t quite as obvious.

It’s Learning Disability Week and I think it’s a great opportunity for us to educate ourselves so we can help others.

For many people with a learning disability, getting creative has been a way to stay connected and positive during the pandemic, so for Learning Disability Week 2021, art and creativity is being celebrated by Mencap.

Interestingly our lead nurse for learning disabilities (LD) and autism, Tim Buck, went to art college after leaving school. However, after spending his weekends working in a residential home for people with learning disabilities, he knew he wanted to help others.

I really enjoyed reading our latest ‘In conversation with’ article where Tim discussed how his role has been affected during the pandemic and what advice he has for those caring for people with learning disabilities.

I hope you have a good week.

Best wishes. 

Tony Chambers
Chief Executive