Modernising our Hospital Newsletter: January 2025

Welcome to our monthly update on plans for a New QEH and work taking place across the Trust.

Charity gives go ahead for new stroke patient garden

A new garden, specifically design for patients who have suffered a stroke, has been given the green light by the QEHKL charity.?

The outdoor space, accessible from West Raynham ward, will be designed for use both as a therapy and rehabilitation area to aid recovery as well as giving a calming space for patients and their families to reflect and relax.?

The benefits of regular access to outdoor space to both aid recovery and support people’s mental wellbeing are well documented. Designing a social outdoor space it is hoped the area will help reduce loneliness for patients spending a length of time in hospital and give an additional area to provide group therapy in a more visually stimulating environment.?

The project was given the go ahead thanks to a successful bid to the QEHKL Charity from the Stroke Rehabilitation team. The Charitable Fund Committee agreed to fund ￡48,400 towards the new area. The garden will be designed by Gavin Jones landscaping who designed the Trust's Butterfly Garden, which opened last year, for?families who have experienced the loss of a baby.?

We will keep you up to date on this exciting project as it takes shape.

2025 set to be?a key year for New QEH plans

Our teams continue to work hard to reach our 2030 deadline to open the doors to a New QEH.

In October 2024 our Strategic Outline Case, which outlines why we need a new hospital, was signed off by The QEH Board having been approved by the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board in September. We also appointed a team of experts, who specialise in healthcare design, as our design team. This group have a wealth of experience in healthcare design for major national and international projects and will be driving forward designs for the New QEH this year. Find out more about the design team here.?

Plans and final designs are continuing for our multi-storey car park which will be built in one phase. Work expected to start in mid-2025, with completion expected in mid-2026. This allows for us to begin work on the main hospital building in mid-2026.

Step forward for Electronic Patient Record?

A significant milestone has been reached in our Electronic Patient Record (EPR) journey with NHS England confirmation that the programme has passed a key assessment.

The Norfolk and Waveney Acute Hospital Collaborative (NWAHC) EPR Programme, in partnership with provider MEDITECH, successfully met the Frontline Digitisation (FD) Stage 3.5 assessment.

This transformative initiative, supported by NHS England’s FD Programme, will strengthen digital foundations across The QEH, James Paget and Norfolk and Norwich hospitals to improve patient care and empower clinicians with the data they need when they need it.

Plans to?deliver this system, that will transform patient care and clinical operations, will continue this year and we will keep you up to date on progress.

Digital letters reduce missed appointments

The QEH has seen a reduction in the number of patients not attending appointments since the launch of digital letters and text messages in February last year.

Currently almost 70% of patients are opted in for using digital letters with feedback that it’s easier to keep track appointments without lots of paper.

The Trust operate a digital first policy, but not digital only - patients are automatically opted in to receive a digital letter however if they choose not to interact with the message within 24hours, the digital letter is converted to paper and sent in the post.?

Find out more about the digital letters initiative here.

Planning approval for relocation of?Sterile Services

A planning application for a new modular build for the Central Sterile Services Department (CSSD) has been approved.

Plans and designs are being developed for the team to relocate to a new modular unit which will be brought into the gravel area to the southwest of the main hospital building - near to the current module two unit. It is expected that the new facility will be available summer 2025.

The CSSD, which cleans, decontaminates and sterilises medical equipment and instruments, is currently housed in a building built of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concreated (RAAC). Despite failsafing work that has already taken place in this department, this section has continued to deteriorate and must be replaced.

Safety work across the Trust

Work to improve Trust facilities continues at pace and 2025 looks set to be another full year as we move into the final three months of the Year four Reinforced Aerated Autoclaved Concrete (RAAC) programme. Work across the site will include:

• RAAC walls safety measures
• Work under way to create a new Hub cafe servery, that will give a more contemporary dining environment
• Continued failsafing work in our Central Delivery Suite
• The new Central Sterile Services Department (CSSD) modular build

While plans for a New QEH are still on track to open in 2030, we must maintain our current building to allow us to deliver care safely. Our aim is provide the best experience we can in our existing buildings.

Keeping updated

You can keep up to date on all our developments on our website dedicated to the new hospital at www.newqeh.org.uk or please get in touch by emailing [email protected].

If you know someone who would like to receive regular updates about how we are modernising our hospital and the progress with our new hospital plans, please ask them to email us using the email address above and we will add them to our email list.