Our annual plan for 2025/26 has been published, which sets out the work we’re doing towards improving patient care and staff experience via our six annual goals.

Our annual goals are:

·       Deliver high-quality, patient centred care

·       Create a diverse and inclusive workplace

·       Maximise capacity utilisation and improve performance

·       Make better use of resource to get financially fit

·       Be a good partner and proactive contributor in our local economy

·       Address the inequalities experienced by staff and patients.

There are lots of achievements to be proud of over the last 12 months; we’re no longer in special measures after ten years ; we’re the best acute trust in London for our Referral to Treatment (RTT) performance; and despite A&E attendances continuing to increase, we are one of the top performing trusts in London and in the top 25% across the country.

However, too many of our patients are still wating too long to get the care they need. This is why we’re  campaigning to get the £35m we need to transform the A&E at Queen’s Hospital.

The coming year will be extremely tough financially with the need to make £61m of savings, which will impact on the services we provide. Therefore, it’s more important than ever we continue to harness the benefits of partnership with other health and social care providers.

We’re looking forward to the introduction of our electronic patient record (EPR) in September, a ‘game changer that will move our Trust out of the dark ages’. It will benefit our patients and staff for years to come, and alongside better delivery of care, will reduce the c.4.6million pieces of paper we produce every month. We are also committed to ensuring effective communication with patients via a patient portal for 25% of all communication by 2026/27.

To ensure we achieve our goals, they sit alongside the following four executive priorities:

·       Cut waiting times for patient for A&E, cancer treatment and hospital appointments

·       Make this a better place to work, as shown by better NHS staff survey results

·       Don’t waste money! Keep to headcount, cut agency use and carry out fewer unnecessary tests

·       Get ready for the Electronic Patient Record.

Matthew Trainer, our Chief Executive, said: 

Our annual plan and goals help us focus on what we want to achieve in the coming year to improve patient care, and to make our hospitals a better place to work for our staff.

We’ve made lots of progress in the last 12 months, including cutting our agency staff spend by £11m thanks to appointing into more substantive posts, helping us achieve a more permanent and stable workforce. While the year ahead is undoubtably going to be a challenging one, there is lots to look forward to, including the introduction of our EPR, which will help us to become a more streamlined and efficient organisation.