Hospital encourages locals to have their say
A local Havering hospital Trust is encouraging residents to have their say, as it puts together a detailed plan of what services will look like in the future.
Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Queen’s and King George hospitals, is developing its clinical strategy which will set out how it can meet the growing demand and changing needs of patients, while still providing the best possible care.
Magda Smith, Chief Medical Officer, said: “Our clinical strategy is a detailed plan of what our hospitals will look like in years to come, helping us to ensure we can continue to provide high quality care for local people.
“A lot has changed since our last strategy in 2016, there is increasing pressure on healthcare services and our population is increasing, a trend which will continue. That’s why it’s vital we use our resources effectively so we can meet the changing needs of our patients in a safe and sustainable way. We want to make sure they are treated by the right person, in the right place, at the right time – whether that’s in our hospitals or not.”
Development of the strategy is being led by clinicians and staff at the Trust, working closely alongside partners including GPs and local councils.
As the project goes into its second phase, where a list of possible options for delivering care are developed from which preferred options will go into a final draft strategy, local people are being asked to give their views on an ‘evaluation criteria’.
This is a set of standards which will be applied to each option to see which would work and provide the most benefit to patients.
There will be some options which are not up for consideration, for example the Trust will keep a Type 1 Emergency Department at both hospitals.
As well as sharing their views on what the criteria should include, people are also able to give feedback on three key documents which were developed in phase one.
They can share their views via an online survey, which can be found here www.bhrhospitals.nhs.uk/clinical-services-strategy. It is open until Friday 6 September.
