Our chief executive is number one!
Our Chief Executive, Matthew Trainer (above), has come top in the HSJ’s (Health Service Journal) annual ranking of the top 50 CEOs in the country.
Matthew, who joined our Trust in 2021 and has featured in the HSJ ranking each year since, was recognised for how he has led a turnaround of our Trust.
In May, our A&E performance was the third best in London, having been at the bottom the previous year. This meant over 7,600 more patients were treated within four hours in May 2024 than May 2023. We were also moved out of special measures last month after more than a decade.
Matthew said: “It’s great to get the work of our team at BHRUT recognised in this way.
“We’ve made good progress in exiting special measures. Our waiting times in A&E are improving but we need investment to continue to get better, particularly the £35m we need to give Queen’s Hospital in Romford the A&E it deserves.
“Thanks also to our Chair Jacqui Smith and to Group CEO Shane DeGaris and our colleagues at Barts Health. We’re working together to try to cut waits and improve care for people across north east London.”
The changes we’ve introduced were recently recognised by Caroline Clarke, the Regional Director of the NHS in London, when she officially opened our two new theatres. She said: “It’s fantastic to see this whole trust make a really big leap forward. We’ve seen so many improvements and we’re so impressed.”
In December 2023 we were the most improved Trust in the country at reducing waits for emergency care, while that same month, the CQC recognised our improvement, increasing the ratings for urgent and emergency care at our hospitals from inadequate to requires improvement.
The HSJ top 50 chief executives was launched in 2014 and is judged by leading health service figures. This year’s judges included NHS England Chief Workforce Officer, Navina Evans, and Chair of the House of Commons Health Select Committee, Steve Brine.
The judged are asked to choose the top 50 CEOs based on the following criteria: the performance of their organisation; their contribution to the wider NHS; and the personal example they set.