Earlier this week NHS England unveiled its delivery plan to tackle the elective backlog because people are waiting too long for their operations.

I’m proud of the innovative surgical work we’re doing to cut waiting lists and this is rightly being recognised nationally. Our BONES project, which saw 135 hip and knee replacements carried out in seven days, was positively highlighted in the delivery plan (page 35).

We also welcomed Hugh Pym, Health Editor for BBC News, to King George Hospital (KGH) on Tuesday to highlight the work we’re doing in the Covid secure green zone to continue to reduce our waiting lists.  Our Chief Executive Matthew and Divisional Director for Surgery Amalesh gave interviews which featured at the start of the six and ten o’clock news on BBC 1.

From super clinics, state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment and our ‘hospital within a hospital’ approach, we’re leading the way nationally to ensure our patients get the treatment they need.

Our waiting lists continue to fall; the number of patients waiting for more than a year reduced from 2,430 at the end of March 2021 to 959 by the end of December, and we hope to get close to zero by the summer.

We know that not everyone who comes to our hospitals for an operation is on a waiting list. We carry out many non-elective procedures and I’m delighted that our Neuro-Interventional Radiology department has been boosted by the launch of a new bi-plane angiogram machine.

This fantastic new machine will help our clinicians deliver lifesaving treatments to patients who have suffered conditions such as strokes and aneurysms, during minimally invasive procedures.

Getting the right care for your child

Although we’re approaching the end of winter, our Emergency Departments (ED) continue to be extremely busy and we’ve seen a trend in our Children’s EDs in recent weeks.

We’re experiencing an increase in night time attendances at Queen’s Hospital, however, our recently upgraded Children’s ED at KGH has seen a small number of patients in comparison. If you live near KGH, remember that our state-of-the-art children’s ED is open 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. Please do share this important message, so we can treat children as quickly as possible

Become a patient partner

When I walk around our hospitals, I always enjoy seeing our volunteers and patient partners helping patients and visitors. They play such an important role and the time they dedicate to our communities makes a difference.

Across our divisions, we want to make sure patients are heard, we want to know what matters most to them and how we can improve our services. We’re currently recruiting new patient partners who will help us do this, while also helping the Trust challenge itself.

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.

Our hospitals remain extremely busy. We thank you for your continuing support to all we are seeking to achieve at BHRUT.

Ben Morrin
Deputy Chief Executive