View Online | Accessible Version
Hello all,
April has been another busy month, and alongside some busy weekends in our Emergency Department with more patients needing our care, we have also announced the refurbishment of our pharmacy at East Surrey Hospital and marked a significant milestone for our midwifery services. Our very own Radio Redhill also celebrated its 50th birthday!
Our services
Midwifery achievements
I am delighted to update you all on the brilliant achievements of our midwifery service who have now successfully met all ten safety actions outlined in year six of the CNST Maternity and Perinatal Incentive Scheme administered by NHS Resolution. This means that we are in the top performing organisations in the country for standards of care, governance and learning. It’s a significant achievement and is the result of an extraordinary level of hard work and dedication by our teams over the past 12 months. Their efforts will truly make a difference to the care we provide to our local communities – and our teams are already hard at work on the actions for year seven.
Improving our pharmacy at East Surrey
In May we will be starting the refurbishment of our Boots outpatient pharmacy. With demand for medicines having increased significantly since the pharmacy’s original design 12 years ago, expanding the dispensary is essential to combat the long waiting times experienced by patients and ensure the safe and efficient provision of prescriptions now and in the future. As well as improving experience for patients and staff, the refurbished site will provide a comfortable new waiting area, accessible consultation room, and new prescription tracking display system. As part of these improvements, Boots will discontinue food sales and reduce its retail stock to prioritise pharmacy services and reduce patient waiting times. This has not been an easy decision, but the project team has worked closely with clinicians and stakeholders, whose valuable input has reinforced the importance of optimising prescription services and improving patient services. Patients and visitors will continue to have access to food options at Three Arches Restaurant, the Friends of East Surrey Hospital’s newly refurbished shop, and WHSmith/M&S, and we are actively looking at ways to improve these outlets to better serve staff, patients and visitors. We anticipate the renovation work will take around four weeks.
Our partners
NHS Federated Data Platform
The Trust has become an early adopter of the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP), a digital service which is centrally funded by the NHS. The new technology will help us to rapidly connect and access information currently held in different IT systems. Ultimately, the goal is to reduce administrative burden, free up vital clinical time and deliver faster, more efficient care for our patients. We are beginning by implementing the Referral to Treatment (RTT) module of the FDP – this is expected to significantly improve validation levels across our RTT pathways by saving time for all staff involved in validation. This in turn, will result in faster completion of RTT journeys for patients. Great progress has been achieved since the launch of the project, and we are already engaging with future users of the system across multiple teams.
Year end
The Trust ended the 2024/25 financial year with a final deficit of £11.9m – which was £1.8m favourable to our planned deficit of £13.7m. Thanks to the hard work of colleagues, we also delivered 4.6% (of operational spend) through our 2024/25 Cost Improvement Plan and the introduction of enhanced pay and non-pay control measures. Looking ahead, we have a planned deficit of £27.8 million for 2025/26, which requires a savings programme of £33.3 million - equating to approximately 6% of overall operating costs. As a result, we are completing a financial recovery plan to describe how we will reach a breakeven position in 2026/27.
Trust news
Radio Redhill turns 50
This month our very own Radio Redhill celebrated their 50th birthday. Radio Redhill’s first broadcast took place in 1975 from the chapel at the former Redhill General Hospital in Earlswood. From one programme a week, to 24 hours a day, our local station has come so far in 50 years. The station celebrated with a week of festivities - including a 60-minute special of Radio Redhill’s story over the last five decades, and archive clips from broadcasts over the last 50 years – including some notable archive interviews with local celebrities – including Dame Judi Dench, broadcaster Nicholas Owen and the late Jean Metcalfe - who have all visited Radio Redhill over the years to talk about their lives and choose their favourite music.
Choose the right NHS service this bank holiday
Finally, with another bank holiday already in our sights I wanted to continue to encourage our local communities to make the right NHS choice for their clinical need and to only attend their local Emergency Department if their medical need is serious or life-threatening. Instead, those with more minor medical issues should make use of alternative NHS services such as NHS 111, Urgent Treatment Centres and local pharmacies, which are likely to be able to see you quicker than ED during peak periods. This will help ensure we can deliver care to those who need it most this bank holiday weekend.
Best wishes,
Angela Stevenson
Chief Executive