30 November 2018
Our doctors, nurses, other professionals and all of the staff who make our organisation work are committed, hard working and go above and beyond to deliver person centred and compassionate care for people in the Borders.
Recent figures show that our Cancer treatment times are good: we achieved 100% in the 31 day standard between April and June 2018, and 94.9% in the 62 day standard for the same period (against a Scottish average of 84.6%).
Our Emergency Department waiting times are good: in November, 97.2% of people attending were seen and either admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours. This has been above the Scottish average since August 2018.
Our vacancy rate for consultant posts is considerably lower than the national average and over the past year we have recruited to a number of consultant posts despite national shortages in these areas of speciality. In addition our vacancy rate across nursing and midwifery was 4.7% in 2018; below the Scottish average.
Our hospital bed numbers (BGH and Community Hospitals) have remained almost unchanged since 2012. It is more than five years since there have been any significant change in our core bed numbers.
For the first time this year we have been unable to make enough savings to balance the books, and while we continue to focus relentlessly on cost effectiveness - the people of the Borders would expect no less – this is absolutely not at the expense of patient safety, which is our number one priority.
Despite a £3million improvement in our financial position this year, Scottish Government has advised "that the changes in leadership which are planned, the scale of the remaining financial challenges facing the board, and the need for pace in delivering of longer term sustainability present key risks." This has led the Director General to move us to Stage 4 of the NHS Board Performance Escalation Framework. Any resource offered from Scottish Government to help us drive forward our recovery plan is welcomed as we continue to work to address the challenges we face with a continuing focus on safe, high-quality patient care.
We are now looking to winter and preparing to deliver our service for the population of the Borders during what is usually a challenging season. The planning for winter 2018 actually started months ago and we have spent lots of time engaging with front line and management colleagues across our health and social care system to be as ready as we can be.
We have created additional capacity in order to enable our patients to be in the most suitable place to receive any further care that they require, instead of being in an acute hospital bed. A new Hospital to Home service has been established covering all of the Borders and will greatly improve discharge from the BGH and our Community Hospitals and there will be increased staffing at weekends and over the festive period.
We will also be asking the public to play 'your part' too by making sure you are prepared for winter. Simple things like ensuring you have a well stocked medicine cabinet, use the experts in our communities such as pharmacists and dentists, look out for your neighbours, and help us run an effective service by cancelling your appointments if you are no longer able to attend them.