It‘s hard to believe we’re already nearing the end of August and getting ready for the start of a new school year. In the Trust, we’ve been welcoming new students of our own with 56 new foundation year 1 junior doctors joining us, part of a group of 388 junior training doctors in total across a range of specialities. I hope they will find it an interesting and invaluable learning opportunity as we prepare for winter and any future peaks of Covid-19, and continue to bring back services.

Latest service updates

We have increased our blood testing capacity so that any patients under our care can now have a blood test in one of our hospitals, by appointment only. To help mitigate footfall we are not able to offer tests for patients referred by their GP, however services are available in community clinics. These are run by the North East London Foundation Trust (NELFT). Unfortunately we are unable to resolve issues with booking tests in these clinics however we have listed their locations and NELFT’s details on our blood testing page so patients are clearly signposted to the right place.  

We have heard from some of our women that they are frustrated we’ve not changed our visitor policy to allow their partner to attend their scans; as a parent myself I can very much appreciate how they must feel. Our scanning rooms and waiting rooms are small and we wouldn’t be able to adhere to social distance guidelines, which, as we all know, is one of the key ways to mitigate the spread of the virus and keep patients and staff safe. We are looking at what we can do, however in the meantime, as always, infection prevention must take priority. 

For people needing our sexual health service, this will remain at Barking Hospital until the new year. 

Our service updates page on our website contains the latest information however as always I would value your support in ensuring residents have accurate, up to date information.

Risk assessments of our staff

Following the emergence of evidence that BAME communities are harder hit by Covid than others, we focused our efforts on ensuring all BAME staff had a specialised risk assessment. I’m very pleased that 98% were undertaken and we’re working hard to reach the outstanding few and hit 100%. We also focused on vulnerable staff, and have now asked all staff to complete an assessment, so we can protect everyone as much as possible.

Stroke success

You may remember me sharing the story of 25 year old Loren Dixon, whose life we saved – Loren underwent a mechanical thrombectomy after a stroke during Covid. I also recently shared how the service has recently expanded to seven days a week. Loren has now featured in another national paper – the Daily Mirror, and was also tweeted about by NHS England. It always inspires me to read about the incredible work of our staff and how they both save and transform our patients’ lives.

Playing our part in national trial  

The outbreak of Covid-19 has presented many challenges to the healthcare system, not least the urgent need to find safe and effective treatments to help patients recover from the virus. We are taking part in the national RECOVERY trial run by the University of Oxford, which aims to identify treatments that may be beneficial for patients admitted to hospital with symptoms of Covid-19. ​Our research nurse Elisa Visentin explains more.

Women’s health – and women in health

Now if this headline doesn’t grab you, nothing will! Maxine Howell shares her ‘Myth busting for down under – stories from the life of a pelvic health physiotherapist’. Maxine addresses what can be an embarrassing or uncomfortable issue with optimism and good humour, opening up a conversation that many women want to have, yet may feel extremely awkward doing so.   

Our three lead healthcare scientists talk about their mission to raise the profile of healthcare science. And in our latest In Conversation With…Georgina Lennon talks about planning to be a lawyer and ending up a midwife - and knitting. Last but most definitely not least, our Chief Medical Officer Magda Smith, whom many of you will now, shares her thoughts on leading on the pandemic and her integral role as Director of Infection Prevention and Control.

As always I hope you have an enjoyable week and a lovely bank holiday.

Tony Chambers
Chief Executive