I am delighted to share my first update since joining BHRUT as Chief Executive.

I want to thank everyone for making me feel so welcome and I look forward to meeting many of you over the coming weeks.

My job as CEO is to help set a clear strategy for the Trust, to build strong teams of talented people that can help us excel in what we do, and to lead the organisation with pride and optimism.

One of my priorities will be to work with colleagues to improve the culture here at BHRUT, with a particular focus on staff wellbeing. People who feel valued and happy in their jobs deliver better outcomes for patients. A happier workforce will also improve our recruitment and retention.

We have all been through a lot in the last 18 months, personally and professionally, and I am grateful to my predecessor Tony Chambers for all he has done, leading the Trust through one of the most challenging times in NHS history.

I’ve been out and about meeting our amazing staff. Take a look at my video diary to find out what I got up to during my first week.

Have your say on our hospitals and services

Our vision is to provide outstanding healthcare to our community, delivered with pride. To help us achieve this, we are refreshing our clinical strategy to ensure we deliver sustainable high-quality services to our residents now and into the future.

Before Covid-19 struck, we developed a draft strategy however, we paused the work as we focused our attention on the pandemic.

Now is the right time to refresh this strategy and it is vital we involve our communities and our partners in its development. Covid-19 has changed the way we operate and there is a lot we have learnt that we must include; it must address the many inequalities highlighted during the pandemic and keep the changes that have improved the way our patients access services.

The first stage of the refresh is to understand the wider picture; not just looking at how patients access services in our hospitals but across the whole system.

To do this, we are currently engaging with a survey. If you haven’t done so already, please have your say by completing and sharing our survey, which will close on Wednesday 8 September. 

While working closely with our NHS and local authority colleagues across north east London, survey responses will be combined with stakeholder and staff feedback and used to refresh the models of care previously developed.

We will then host a series of public events to offer local people the opportunity to share their thoughts.

I look forward to keeping you updated.

100,000^th jab at our hubs!

We know that vaccinations are our way back to normality as we battle to beat Covid-19, so I’m delighted to let you know that we recently gave our 100,000^th vaccination.

Since the opening of our hub at Queen’s Hospital in December 2020 and King George Hospital in January 2021, our incredible staff have worked tirelessly to protect our communities. Well done to all involved and many thanks to our system colleagues and communities for their support.

While this is an incredible achievement, we know there is still so much more work to do. A lot of people still haven’t had their jab, many of whom are in their 20s and 30s, and this has seen more young adults being hospitalised with the infection.

Our Chief Medical Officer Magda Smith has featured in an important national campaign to encourage younger people to have the vaccine. It’s incredible that by having both jabs, you reduce your chances of being hospitalised by over 92 per cent.

If you’ve not booked your jab yet, please do so and help protect yourselves and your communities. Please also remember that it is vital to have both doses.

I look forward to us working together to provide the best possible care for the residents of Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge.

Kind regards,

Matthew Trainer

Chief Executive