Suzanne Rankin
Chief Executive

This week I’d like to reflect on what is happening across the Trust and how we prioritise what we do in these exceptionally busy times. I am sure, like myself and my colleagues in the executive team, many of you will feel a bit pulled in different directions at the moment.

There is an incredible amount happening as we work to cope with increasing numbers of Covid patients and those attending A&E and requiring admission (as is usual during the winter period), restore and recover those services suspended or reduced during the first wave of the pandemic and provide ‘business as usual’ outpatient, diagnostic and elective care to thousands of patients a week.

Covid aside, we know that demand on all services will continue to grow and we need to evolve our ways of working to more digitally-enabled, patient-focussed, efficient methods. Implementing the new operating model, such as the creation of more services in the community ‘closer to home’ and enabling patients to manage their own care through the greater use of technology is key.

Suzanne Rankin
Chief Executive

This week I’m going to focus on something other than our Covid response and the Pandemic – not because this is not important or because I’m not aware of the impacts on Team ASPH or the huge effort and continuing hard work of everyone, but because, despite all we do, we have to pay attention to other important aspects of work together and there is nothing more important than safety – safety for patients and the team.

One of the things I have come to understand is a key safety challenge for us as a provider of healthcare and employer in the 21st century is cyber security.

I have learned that much like other aspects of safety people are really important and “human factors” is a big cause of cyber security breaches and for us that is a patient and team safety issue and we need to address it with the same level of enthusiasm and rigour.

James A Thomas
Chief Operating Officer

I’ve taken over the message this week to share a really special video with you all. Over the summer, I reflected on the transformational changes that were made at ASPH in response to the first wave of the COVID pandemic. You’ll be aware of some of these changes as we’ve shared a number of updates in previous messages, and you may have been involved in the execution of some of them. Wards and entire departments moved within a matter of days, new services and clinics were swiftly introduced, some members of staff were redeployed to other areas of the organisation to provide support where it was needed the most, and others were required to work remotely to reduce footfall within the hospitals.

Of course these are only a few of the changes that were implemented - there were so many more and everyone did their bit to help during this time. When you look back at the volume and pace of change, it really is outstanding and I felt it was important that we recognise and record this to look back on. I also felt that our achievements should be shared by the people who made all of the changes possible, Team ASPH.

Suzanne Rankin
Chief Executive

This week I thought it would be useful to reflect on the current Covid situation and the impact this may have locally and for Team ASPH.

You will, no doubt, know that the number of Covid infections is increasing steeply across the UK and there is recognition that we are now in the second wave of the pandemic. The number of patients admitted to hospital with suspected or confirmed Covid is increasing nationally and the death rate is rising. To provide a quick snapshot; yesterday (11th Oct) 12,872 new Covid positive cases were reported across the UK. This compares to 3,539 one month ago (11th Sep) and 1,148 two months ago (11th Aug). You can take a look at the latest statistics here.

Much of the media attention has been upon the north of the country, with news of high numbers of cases per 100,000 population, local outbreaks and lockdowns. Whilst it is clear the numbers are higher in this part of the UK, cases are also rising locally across Surrey. It’s really important we keep abreast of the local situation so we can prepare and respond accordingly.