11 January 2011
As you will hopefully know, I have replaced Samantha Jones as Chief Executive and last Tuesday (4 January 2011) was my first official day at the Trust.
I've spent the last week meeting with as many staff and volunteers as possible by touring wards, clinics and other departments. I've also met with patients, local people and other key stakeholders and I'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you for the warm welcome I have received.
An amazing track record
The record of this Trust over the last few years is amazing. We've met the Government's key standards for healthcare year on year, whilst consistently balancing the books.
In addition, the feedback patients give through independent national surveys - combined with our own internal research - shows their experience has improved too.
We also have plans in place to spend hundreds of millions of pounds redeveloping both Epsom and St Helier hospitals and, over the last three years, more than £30 million has been invested into improving our buildings and to buy new equipment.
Together, these make a great platform for us to build on and to ensure that each and every patient who walks through our doors gets treated in the same way that we would want to be treated if we were a patient.
Healthcare is changing
Having said that, we cannot ignore the fact that the way healthcare works in the UK is changing dramatically, bringing many challenges. However, with this change comes amazing opportunities for us to work more innovatively and to further enhance the service we provide to the people of Epsom, Sutton, Merton and surrounding areas.
As such, I have asked our staff and volunteers to think about how they can further improve the service they provide within their team, department, ward or clinic and to work with me to make it a reality.
Foundation trust status
We now know that, like many other NHS organisations across the country, our Trust is unable to become a foundation trust in its current form. As such, we need to agree a credible plan to take both Epsom and St Helier hospitals to foundation trust status, whether on their own or in partnership with another organisation.
With this in mind, a project board (led by an independent chair) is being set up to lead this work and I hope to be able to announce further details, including a detailed timeline, shortly.
Addressing speculation
Whatever you might hear over the coming weeks and months, there are a few facts to bear in mind.
First, whatever happens, local people will still need to be treated in our hospitals, so they'll still need our services, whatever the future shape of the organisation. Yes, our headed paper might change, but our patients won't stop coming.
Second, it is business as usual, so I'm expecting our staff to continue to deliver first class care to our patients, within the resources available to us.
As such, we'll continue to invest in our services and plan for the future. And, with that in mind, we'll shortly be announcing, via our annual capital plan, approximately £10 million of new money to spend on improving our sites over the next financial year.
Finally, no matter what people might say, there's absolutely no plan to move services from Epsom to St Helier (or vice versa) as part of the work we are doing.
Many people will of course be trying to guess what the future holds for our hospitals and I encourage you to feed your thoughts in as we move forward.
A challenging winter
Our hospitals - like others across the UK - are extremely busy at present as a result of winter pressures. This isn't easy and, from my experience of running clinical operations at various trusts, it takes real team effort at times like these.
However, I know we can continue to deliver and, importantly, to meet the high standards our patients expect of us.
Forecasting a balanced budget
In addition, like trusts up and down the country, we have to make every penny count and our finances are tight.
However, I am pleased to report that our latest financial forecast shows that the gap between our income and expenditure for the year has closed and, although it will be tight, we should end 2010/11 with our predicted surplus of just over £3 million.
There are a number of reasons for this, including the fact that by the end of the March we expect to have made £14 million of savings by improving the way in which we work (and, in turn, improving the service we provide to our patients).
And, from the feedback I've received since I started, this, like so many of the Trust's successes, is down to the continued hard work, commitment and dedication of our staff and volunteers.
Thank you again for your warm welcome.
Matthew Hopkins
Chief Executive
