Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s leading providers of hospital and community-based healthcare, research and education. It has more than 25,000 staff working between five hospital sites across London, and community sites in Lambeth and Southwark. As one of the largest employers in London, Guy’s and St Thomas’ works hard to reflect the diversity, opportunity and ambition of its communities and patients it serves.
My visit to St Thomas’ Hospital, with views of parliament across the Thames, was stimulating and inspiring. I discussed the key challenges and opportunities the trust currently faces with chief executive Ian Abbs and his team. I then took a tour of the trust’s pioneering medical imaging centre, and the newly opened children’s day treatment centre.
Opened in December 2022, the Mary Seacole MRI Centre is shared between the trust and King’s College London (KCL). It incorporates the latest artificial intelligence technology, with clinical MRI scanners that improve patient care and develop groundbreaking research. Joint clinical director of imaging, Claire Lloyd and deputy head of radiology Sophia Hill took me around the new facility and explained how its name was chosen by patients and the public in honour of pioneering nurse and businesswoman Mary Seacole. The centre echoes and celebrates her values of good citizenship, entrepreneurship and achievement.
Sharon Giles, director of clinical and research operations at KCL, explained that the joint working of research and clinical teams in one centre ensures the latest advances in technology quickly translate into patient benefit, as there’s better support for clinical decision-making and enhanced imaging capacity. All the staff I met were eager to harness the centre’s capabilities to help deliver the best patient care and make imaging more effective and valuable.
I was shown around the trust’s brand-new Children’s Day Treatment Centre, opened just four weeks ago, by Evelina London Children’s Hospital director of operations and improvement James O’Brien. The new building is a purpose-built, stand-alone facility containing the children’s day surgery unit, with everything needed for a child’s surgery in one place. The centre is designed to improve the experience of children, young people (CYP) and their families. The building has an outer space design theme creating a fun and calming atmosphere. The day surgery facilities help make space available in hospital operating theatres for more complex cases, meaning more procedures can be offered to the growing number of CYP who need specialist care. I was encouraged to hear that staff are motivated and energised by the centre’s opening to deliver excellent patient care and increase use of its resources.
Overall, the visit was tremendously uplifting, highlighting the benefits a modern estate and advanced digital infrastructure can have on staff motivation. The benefits to patient care and experience are undeniable. I was inspired by the passion of the staff and the board, but I am aware of the challenges the trust continues to face as they work through a large elective care backlog and ensure diverse access to services across hospital sites and community services.
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