Summary Business Plan 2010/11
Our staff: at the heart of our success
Introduction
The last financial year proved to
be another good year for the trust
as we continued to develop high
quality, patient-centred care. In order
to ensure long-term success we
must be in control of our finances
and I am pleased to report that we
recorded an end of year trading
surplus for 2009/10 of £2.6m.
The reported surplus was £10.6m
as the trust received £8m from
the Challenged Trust Board. This
money is due to our recent good
performance and will strengthen our
balance sheet as we will be able to
pay off part of our outstanding short
term loan.
Our 2009/10 performance means
that we have achieved a trading
surplus for three years running;
something that would not have
been possible without the hard
work and dedication of staff.
We have also stayed within our
Capital Resource Limit and External
Finance Limit which are statutory
requirements set out by the
Department of Health.
Colleagues will have seen from my
One Message published in May
that for 2010/11 we have set out to
achieve ambitious financial targets.
This summary business plan has been
prepared to help staff understand
more about the progress that has
been made and about the future
direction of travel.
David Astley
Chief executive
Progress in 2009/10
Dr Foster `Large Trust of the Year` - Dr Foster Intelligence, the publisher of the Hospital
Guide, named St George’s as its ‘Large Trust of the Year’ for 2009. In 2009 the focus was
on patient safety and St George’s was recognised as being one of the five leading trusts
in England in this area, as well as for providing quality services for patients.
Introduction of iCLIP - March 2010 saw the deployment of the trust’s new clinical
information systems, known internally as the Integrated Clinical Information Programme
(iCLIP). This launch followed years of strategic planning by the trust and months of staff
training to ensure everyone was fully prepared. The implementation of iCLIP represented
the start of a major change programme, one that will take time to fully embed. However,
the trust is already benefiting from real-time reporting in the A&E department and more
complete monitoring of bed occupancy.
Improvements in children’s and maternity services - Our maternity unit has seen
much improvement over the last two years, and we are committed to developing and
improving the service still further to ensure it meets the expectations of all of our patients.
Work has begun on improving our children’s services. The investment in children’s services
is a very positive development and will deliver real benefits to patients and their families.
New CT scanner in A&E - In February we installed an advanced CT scanner which
carries out the fastest available scanning. The scanner can complete a scan of the whole
chest in just one second, which means that patients admitted to hospital with chest pains
can undergo an early CT scan to identify potential heart disease and reduce the need for
overnight stays or invasive tests.
Infection control rates - There were just 17 recorded MRSA infections at the trust
during 2009/10. This figure is 64 per cent lower than our mandatory target for the year
– a target imposed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) – which was no more than 47
infections. A new mandatory target of nine has been set for 2010/11.
One Team - The One Team project, financed by a £100,000 grant from NHS London,
is a series of activities that aim to help staff learn and practice new skills, encouraging
excellent colleague to colleague service and colleague to patient service. In June 2010,
the team won the Social Partnership Forum Award for Partnership Working at the
Healthcare People Management Association (HPMA) 2010 awards.
Established an Academic Health and Social Care Network (AHSN) - The South West
London Academic, Health and Social Care Network (AHSN) was launched in October
2009 and is a new, pioneering membership network of organisations spanning health,
social care and higher education. Its mission is to provide world-class health and social
care services to people living in southwest London. The AHSN is a partnership of all the
key health and social care organisations in southwest London’s six boroughs: Croydon,
Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton and Wandsworth with the Kingston University and
St George’s University of London.
Our vision
By 2015 we will be a thriving Foundation Trust at the heart of an integrated
healthcare system – one that delivers improved patient care in community,
hospital and specialist settings, supported by a unique and nationally
recognised programme of research, education and employee engagement.
Financial challenges for 2010/11
This year St George’s will need to meet a cost reduction programme
(CRP) of £42m against the backdrop of the UK’s economic problems
which are set to have a major impact on NHS finances.
Our targets are necessarily ambitious and must be met if we are to
achieve Foundation Trust (FT) status. To be successful we need to
demonstrate to Monitor, the FT independent regulator, that we have
a good Financial Risk Rating (FRR).
In order for us to achieve a good FRR we need to be seen to be
a financially viable organisation with strong liquidity. This will be
achieved through delivering a £6.5m trading surplus, managing
aspects of financial management such as debtors, creditors and stock
as well as managing our capital spend.
We have also identified 2010/11 as being the year that we will need
to pay off the remaining portion of £16m historic debt. The money
from the Challenged Trust Board, established to reduce the debts of
London trusts, will assist us in paying off this debt. £8m of this came
at the end of 2009/10 and will appear as surplus income on our
accounts.
In order to achieve our financial challenges we will need to deliver a
robust CRP. We have started to review our expenditure on goods and
services to see where we can make both efficient and effective savings.
With the help of divisions and directorates across the trust we have
managed to identify areas in which we can reduce our costs and also
areas that will help us save money. On top of this, we have the corporate
CRPs which have been worked up centrally to identify further savings.
Change programmes
Key projects that will help us improve services and deliver savings
include:
Procurement programme
An important project that will help us deliver a saving of around
£5m. The procurement programme looks at the methods the trust
uses to acquire supplies. This includes sourcing, contracting and how
we distribute and manage our supplies. As well as financial savings
the programme will free-up clinical staff time so that colleagues are
able to focus on providing excellent patient care.
Electronic rostering programme (eRP)
This programme will help us deliver a saving of around £5m over two
years, and will reduce payroll errors, provide greater transparency
of staff utilisation and reduce spend on bank and agency staff.
The application has an integrated bank and agency function
which is linked in with electronic staff rostering, time and
attendance, and payroll, as well as an online self-service function
for staff.
Capital programme
During 2010/11 we have set out a planned capital programme of
£24.5m to improve our environment. Projects include:
Neonatal and paediatric unit expansion
Work started in January 2010 to build a new special care
baby unit (SCBU) which will relocate our existing special care
cots and incorporate four new transitional care spaces, which
will accommodate mothers and babies. This work will create
additional capacity on both the SCBU and the post natal ward in
order to meet the rising demand for these services.
The relocation of the special care cots from their existing place in
the neonatal unit will also create more space for the remaining
intensive care and high dependency cots, reducing the risk of
infection in these areas.
In June work began to upgrade the paediatric intensive care unit
(PICU) to increase PICU bed capacity from eight to ten beds. As
well as adding two extra beds to the unit, the project will also
include development and modernisation to provide a much better
environment for parents. This will incorporate a new parents’
suite, kitchen and more comfortable accommodation. The PICU
work is generously funded by St George’s Hospital Charity.
Acute medical unit development
The aim of this development is to provide increased single sex
facilities. The first phase of the acute medical unit development
was completed in July 2009, and the second phase will be
designed to merge two wards, currently separated by three floors
to form a co-located unit. This will provide a state-of-the-art unit,
of which 25 per cent of all beds will be side rooms.
New breast screening unit
A new breast diagnostic unit will open on the perimeter road
of St George’s in summer 2011. This unit will incorporate the
Duchess of Kent Unit (which is also the southwest London
National Breast screening service) and the breast symptomatic
service, currently located in St James outpatients’ department.
New vision, aims and values
The trust has recently reviewed its vision and strategic aims to
better reflect the aspirations of a modern day St George’s.
Our vision
By 2015 we will be a thriving Foundation Trust at
the heart of an integrated healthcare system – one
that delivers improved patient care in community,
hospital and specialist settings, supported by a
unique and nationally recognised programme of
research, education and employee engagement.
Strategic aims
To help us achieve this vision St George’s board has agreed six
strategic aims:
• To provide outstanding quality of care
• To become an exemplary employer
• To strengthen education, research and innovation that will benefit
our patients
• To build a leading integrated healthcare system via integration
with community services
• To deliver robust operational and financial performance
• To continuously improve our facilities and environment
Our values
Successful organisations achieve their aims by clear strategic plans
supported by a set of values and behaviours that provide the
framework for all staff to contribute to success.
Values
• Excellent • Kind • Responsible • Respectful
Our values are underpinned by a set of behaviours that have
patient safety and care at their core:
Excellent Look after our patients as we would like to be looked
after ourselves.
Set ourselves high standards and be open to new
ideas.
Be professional in our approach and in our
appearance.
Promote and share best practice.
Kind Anticipate and respond to patients’ and carers’
concerns and worries.
Support each other under pressure and consider the
impact of our actions on others.
Help people find their way if they look unsure or lost.
Smile, listen and be friendly.
Responsible Have patient safety as our prime consideration.
Be responsible for ensuring good patient experience.
Use resources wisely.
Challenge poor behaviour in others.
Learn from experience including our mistakes.
Say sorry when things go wrong.
Respectful Keep patients, families and carers involved and
informed.
Protect patients’ dignity and confidentiality.
Wear our name badges, introduce ourselves and
address people in a professional manner.
Respect colleagues’ roles in patient care and
experience.
Value and understand the diversity of those around us.
By delivering on our strategic aims within our framework of values
and behaviours we will have attained, by 2015, the vision we have
set ourselves.
Shaping St George’s future
The next 12 months will set out the long-term future for St
George’s. Our plans to become a Foundation Trust (FT) and
to integrate with Community Services Wandsworth reflect the
ambition set out in our five-year vision.
Achieving Foundation Trust status
As a FT, we will have greater freedom and flexibility than NHS trusts
in the way we manage our affairs. More emphasis is also placed on
ensuring that staff, patients and local communities are involved in
how the hospital is run. Our timetable sees St George’s becoming a
FT in spring 2011.
Integrating with Community Services Wandsworth
A key project for 2010 is our plan to integrate with Community
Services Wandsworth. The aim is to create an integrated care
organisation focused on improving the patient experience and
outcomes by linking community care and hospital care even more
closely. Integrated clinical teams will provide complete patient
pathways, spanning community and acute care. This should help
reduce avoidable admissions into hospital and reduce the time
inpatients have to spend in hospital. It should also help to improve
local access to outpatient and diagnostic services by moving more
services off the acute hospital site and into the community.
Rising to the challenge
How we perform over the next 12 months will be crucial in
determining the future of St George’s. It is important that we remain
in a strong financial position so that we can determine our own path
rather than risk others doing it for us. With the support of staff we
can rise to the dual challenge of securing our finances and providing
the best possible care for our patients.
Produced by St George’s communications unit.
Design and print by Media Services, St George’s, University of London. Ref: 03118