Had a few problems with this blog and was looking for an alternative way of communicating but to no avail. So I am back on line.

Like so many hospitals, the Royal Surrey is under great pressure which is likely to increase over the next couple of months. However it is holding its own and doing OK relative to its peers. Finances are tight but under control with the main problem holding down the use of locums and agency staff in areas where recruiting is really difficult. As ever problems in discharging patients who are fit enough to leave the acute setting seem to grow not lessen. Lack of resources in local authority social services and increasing difficulties in finding care home places at affordable costs figure greatly. The Royal Surrey Trust is investing significantly in the community services for which it is now responsible including providing more beds at Haslemere and Milford hospitals. This should help with discharges from Royal Surrey Hospital.

I recently took a hard look at the Trust’s overall clinical and financial performance which I encapsulated in a short report shared with my fellow Governors, Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) and Executive members of the Board (Governors are  responsible for holding NEDs to account). Despite great efforts, a number of significant targets are not being met e.g. dealing with discharges and a number of cancer waiting time targets. Unfortunately this is not unusual across the country. Governors will be looking at all this again in February.  However there was one highlight. The 62 day cancer wait target (time from referral to treatment) was met for the first time in a number of years. The main area of difficulty has been around Urology and more staff and the new Stokes Urology Centre has at last turned things around. This is an area on which I have concentrated my monitoring and constructive emphasis over a long period of time. I hope performance will now be maintained.