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News from our Hospital – Keith Bunker, Former Governor

How fortunate we are locally to have a hospital where productivity is continuing to improve. This contrasts with the public sector as a whole, where productivity is still 8.5% below pre-pandemic levels.  It is also worth mentioning that not all hospital trusts are achieving improvements.

It is sad that this government’s latest re-set for the NHS, with its list of ‘new’ improvements (for example, bringing care into the community, and use of more digital), is portrayed as being a totally new initiative.  In fact, this has been the plan for a long time, as those who studied the documents relating to the plans for the new hospital based on these changes will also be aware, so nothing new here!
That we need a new hospital is beyond doubt, especially as maintenance costs for the present Basingstoke facility are rising very rapidly, pushing the Trust’s budget well into deficit this year.  It is so serious that a lot of equipment well beyond its normal service date is having to be retained until its terminal failure

The Hampshire Together New Hospital Programme, together with patients and representatives of the community, has been studying the feedback from the planned new hospital public consultation which ended in March, and in its light adapting the proposals for the business case, which must be approved by the local Integrated Care Board (ICB).  This work is now close to the stage for the final document to be submitted for the ICB to review and approve.  Sadly, any new hospital locally will be delayed behind the work being undertaken in those hospitals built with ‘aerated concrete’ which of course represents a safety hazard. Hospitals affected by RAAC are at the top of the Secretary of State’s list of priorities to ensure patients can receive care in buildings that are safe and fit for purpose.

Ambulance queuing remains an issue, with several factors not helping, these include winter viruses; the lack and delays in the installation of home equipment for patients leaving hospital (it is recognised home is often the best place for recovery); lack of joined up care; the cost of care homes – many now with weekly costs approaching £2,000.  Perhaps it is also relevant to mention that we are the nation in Europe with significantly the lowest number of hospital beds per head of the population!

On a positive note, a new Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) has now opened at Basingstoke– the UTC is separate to the ongoing work of the New Hospital Programme. Service from these facilities is designed to treat people requiring urgent – but not life-threatening care more efficiently, protecting emergency department services for patients presenting with the most severe conditions. These facilities are being developed to alleviate pressure across our Emergency Departments. People can access the Basingstoke UTC via 111 or will be directed from the Emergency Department.
However, the GP problem, where surgeries are private businesses, has not been helped by the recent changes to their costs in the budget. Similarly, just throwing money at the NHS, “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting to get a different result” is in Einstein’s words the definition of madness. As any wise management consultant would advise, find the problems, devise solutions and then one knows where to target investment if it is really required.

Again, on a positive note, with the growing world uncertainties, our Trust has wisely done a lot of work recently to improve cyber security, so hopefully we will not incur a situation as experienced by some trusts following the recent hack of a widely used testing lab, which caused so much disruption to patient flow.