HOSPITALS in north-east London are reporting improvements in their performance, though the number of complaints has dramatically risen reports the Local Democracy Reporter.
Barking, Redbridge, and Havering Universities Trust (BHRUT) – which oversees hospitals in Barking, Ilford and Romford – left ‘special measures’ in May but challenges remain.
Just shy of 80% of patients in A&E were treated within four hours of being admitted, which the trust says was its best performance in four years.
It has performed similarly well in reducing ambulance handover delays, but is falling behind on cancer targets according to an NHS report published this week.
BHRUT met the 96% target for diagnoses within 31 days but missed the 85% target for 62-day diagnoses, falling short by 14%.
In some cases, patients are also having to travel “considerable” distances for scans.
It says one possible cause is the trust’s lack of a PET scanner, used for capturing detailed, three-dimensional images of the body’s insides.
Overcrowding remains an issue for BHRUT, which says “too many people are facing long waits and being cared for in corridors”.
In a bid to tackle the issue, health bosses are seeking an estimated £35million to redesign A&E departments. The department in Queen’s Hospital, in Romford, was built to accommodate around 300 patients a day but now sees closer to 600.
The report also includes a breakdown of complaints made to NHS North East London (NEL), the integrated care board administering BHRUT.
The amount rose sharply in 2023/24, jumping from 253 complaints in 2022/23 to some 1,135 – almost a fivefold increase.
Those figures comprise both formal and informal complaints about primary care and the board itself, as well as those lodged by councillors and MPs.
The board says it is working to “improve individual experience in response to specific complaints,” but pointed to the delegation of responsibility from the NHS as a major factor.
In July last year, NHS NEL began managing relevant complaints instead of NHS England (NHSE). While it received more than 1,100 complaints last year, NHSE received an average of 456.
NHS NEL added: “There remains, however, work to do to embed the learning from complaints across service and quality improvement and to ensure that complaints are routinely considered in making changes to services and delivery.”
The report will be presented to a joint health committee – made up of councillors from Havering, Redbridge, Waltham Forest, Barking and Essex – on Thursday (25th July).
