Bringing down surgery waiting lists could take years, warns Shropshire hospital chief
The new boss of Shropshire's orthopaedic hospital has warned it could be years before waiting times for planned operations drop to pre-Covid levels.
Stacey Keegan, who has been confirmed as the permanent chief executive officer for the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, says trusts across the country are having to cope with recruitment and retainment of staff as well as dealing with the lockdown backlog of surgery.
But she said that the specialist hospital, at Gobowen, near Oswestry, had brought waits of two years down to just a tiny handful and said it was making really good progress on the 78-week waits.
The chief executive stressed that bringing waiting lists down was being done on a clinical needs basis, irrespective of different waiting time targets for England and Wales.
"A patient is a patient irrespective of where they live," she said.
"Our staff have done incredibly well, but being realistic, it is going to take a good few years to reduce the backlog, which thankfully has plateaued."
The chief executive, who took on the interim role in March 2021 just four months after arriving as director of nursing, praised staff for stepping up "phenomenally" during the pandemic and since.
However, she said that for specialist hospitals such as the RJAH, recovering from Covid was going to be harder than dealing with the pandemic.
"Covid is still with us and 1.2 per cent of current staff sickness is Covid related," she said.
"We now have to deal with the backlog of surgery amid recruiting for vacancies and retaining our staff."
The hospital currently has seven vacancies for anaesthetists, mirroring the national picture, and has recruitment drives taking place across the board.
"The cost of living is having an affect. We have had health care workers leave us to take up better paid jobs in supermarkets, with more flexibility. We can give what is in our gift to offer in terms of flexibility and have been doing what we can to help with the cost of living but wages are set by the NHS.
"Those staff members who were due to retire stepped up to stay at work during Covid and now they are stepping down."
Stacey said that the hospital was also exploring ways of expanding its physical capacity to be able to do more operations.
"We may be able to grow the facilities, but we still need to have the workforce. We are bringing in innovative changes such as anaesthetist nurse practitioners and are always looking at ways to improve the situation."
Stacey said her own step-up to interim CEO after four months at the hospital had been a baptism of fire. She has now accepted the permanent position, but is still determined to retain her roots as a nurse.
"I still do a clinical shift once a month. There's nothing better than putting my uniform back on and doing what I love doing most, nursing," she said.
"I am determined that this will not be a 'top down' organisation and so talking to the staff while doing a shift with them - making beds or helping patients - is so important.
"If they have ideas on what we can do better, we want to hear them."
It is the nursing background that Stacey says has given her her watchword throughout her career - keep people safe. And it is one she retains in her chief executive role.
She is full of praise for the way the staff and the public reacted to the pandemic.
"There was always a member of staff knocking on my door asking how they could help and many of the innovations that staff came up with to deal with the changes we still retain today."
Those include virtual physio and other appointments.
"They are not for everyone but for many, including those who would have to give up a day's work to travel to us for an appointment, they are a game changer."
Similarly those waiting for operations such as hip and knee replacements can now log onto an app which gives them access to support and advice from physios and other staff. It also helps them keep track of suggested exercises and ways to keep fit.
"They can also use it post-op to help chart their recovery and be able to contact us.
"We have only just launched the app and the uptake has been amazing. It is somewhat of a safety blanket for patients."
With waiting times for operations soaring during the pandemic Stacey says the hospital is keen to reassure patients they have not been forgotten.
"We sent out regular letters giving patients updates to ensure they know we are doing our best and they haven't been forgotten."
