NHS waits reduce for Buckinghamshire patients across the board
Thanks to the hard work of staff working at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, waits have improved across seven key areas over the past year.
The Trust is now delivering ahead of the national average for Emergency Department (A&E), Cancer[1] and Diagnostic waits and is in the top three Trusts with the most improved performance in the South East. This has been delivered in a context of c.10% increases in demand.
As the latest NHS England statistics are released Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust is proud to have shown improvement in the seven key areas that are used to assess how well the Trust is delivering outstanding care to the residents of Buckinghamshire, including cancer.
Comparing March 2024 to March 2023, improvements have included a 10% improvement in early cancer diagnosis with the Trust now achieving the national standard and more than halving waits for diagnostic tests.
For the first time in over ten years the Trust has also achieved a year-on-year improvement in waiting times in the Emergency Department.
All of this has been achieved despite significant increases in demand over the same period including:
- Referrals for cancer increasing by 9%
- Referrals to our community teams increasing by 9%
To deliver this the Trust has recruited more doctors and nurses, including doubling the number of Emergency Department consultants; opened new facilities including a dedicated Skin Cancer centre in Amersham; and improved efficiency for example by running all day operating lists so more patients are operated on each day.
Commenting on the results, Raghuv Bhasin, Chief Operating Officer at the Trust said: “Thanks to the dedication our colleagues, and support from our partners, we have made significant improvements to the waiting times for patients in Buckinghamshire. We have much to look forward to in 2024/25 as we continue to reduce waiting times including additional MRI and CT scanners, a new ward at Stoke Mandeville and a centre of excellence for ophthalmology. I am confident with the team we have in place in the Trust and wider system that we will continue to drive improvements in the care and waiting times in the coming years.”
Zoe McIntosh, Chief Executive, Healthwatch Bucks said: “We’re delighted to see the significant improvements Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust have made in reducing waiting times for patients in Buckinghamshire and are grateful to the staff who made this happen. We look forward to this progress continuing over the coming year and the positive impact this will undoubtedly have on the experience and outcomes for patients.”
[1] as measured by the 28 Day Faster Cancer Diagnosis and the 62 day referral to starting treatment target