Welcome to the Triangle – February 2025
Hello and welcome to this edition of the Triangle.
You will not be surprised to learn that the current winter season has been incredibly busy for the NHS in our area, with our hospitals, clinics and surgeries all seeing high numbers of patients needing care and support.
At the beginning of the year, not only was our system hit by freezing temperatures, which added extra strain to colleagues working in the community to provide vital care to patients in their own homes, but a surge in flu cases also created huge pressure at our hospitals, with teams working tirelessly to help get those who needed to be admitted in, and those well enough to leave, safely on their way.
Around this time, our colleagues who expertly handle calls made to both 999 and 111 saw the number of people requesting emergency care by phone go up by more than 10 per cent, which shows that pressure and demand is not limited to just the frontline.
Needless to say, the response we saw from all corners of our NHS has been nothing short of heroic, and we are sincerely thankful to all our colleagues at what is still a very challenging time.
As someone with an interest in health and care, you will no doubt already be aware of two big announcements that have happened in recent weeks.
The government’s new elective reform plan, which aims to cut waiting times and speed-up essential diagnostic care, was unveiled at the beginning of January, and this was followed just a few weeks later by NHS England’s updated planning guidance for 2025/26.
It is clear to us that these two documents share a thread that rings true with what we in the ICB aim to do each and every day, which is to do more of what makes a real difference to the lives of patients, and less of what doesn’t.
It’s a simple notion, but one we’re already championing. For example, we already have three active community diagnostic centres, which are key to the government’s plans to speed up diagnoses, in our region.
These sites in Bath, Swindon and Salisbury are enabling us to see an additional 60,000 patients every year.
What’s more, this figure will increase even more in the next months, as work to build a dedicated endoscopy unit at the West Swindon Health Centre began at the beginning of January.
Once complete, this new facility will be able to see an extra 6,000 patients each year, all of whom would have previously had to visit one of our larger hospitals for their diagnostic procedure.
Having more services based in the community is a key long-term priority of ours, and these new community diagnostic centres, along with our ongoing work with HCRG Care Group, will ensure that the left-shift we have long spoken about, in which care happens closer to home and prevention becomes a much greater focus, can truly take shape.
This past month has also seen us begin to actively gather feedback from local residents to contribute to the NHS 10 Year Health Plan, which is set to be published in May. This plan will outline a new future for the NHS, and we’re proud to be supporting it by engaging with our people and communities across BSW.
We have heard from voices in underrepresented communities, and have held successful sessions with older Black and Minority Ethnic community members and the Muslim community in Bath, refugees and asylum seekers in Swindon, and the Gypsy, Roma, Boater and Traveller communities in Wiltshire and Bath.
All their insights will be incorporated into the development of our local plans for the next year.
And as we look ahead, we must acknowledge that work is still needed to address the financial challenges that lay before us.
The sustained pressure and high demand that we referenced earlier has meant that, across our system, we have seen our spend on emergency care increase significantly, and in turn this has had an impact on where we think we will be at the end of the financial year.
There is good news though, as our productivity in BSW is significantly higher than what is being seen both regionally and nationally, which shows the actions we’re putting in place to help balance the books are having an impact.
We’ll continue to share updates on these issues and much, much more over the coming months, but do let us know if there are any topics you would like to hear more on by sending an email to bswicb.communications@nhs.net.
Kind regards,
Stephanie Elsy,
Chair
Sue Harriman,
Chief Executive Officer