Appointment of new deputy chief nurse

Giuseppe Labriola, who is currently our director of midwifery, gynaecology and assistant chief nurse (pictured), has been appointed as our new deputy chief nurse, following a competitive recruitment process.

Giuseppe joined PAHT two years ago, from his previous role as the associate director of nursing and midwifery at Newham Hospital, part of Barts Health NHS Trust. He is dual qualified as a registered nurse and registered midwife. He has experience of working in trauma and orthopaedics, haematology and oncology and more recently, women’s health.

Giuseppe said: “I am absolutely thrilled to have been appointed as deputy chief nurse. I look forward to working alongside our amazing people to deliver and maintain high quality clinical care and experiences for those who use our services.”

A huge thank you to Sarah Webb, our current deputy chief nurse, who retires in April, after a long and successful career in the NHS. We wish you all the best and a wonderful retirement.

Dermatology service improvements

Well done to our dermatology service, who have significantly improved their performance standards, as outlined below: y The two week wait performance has improved from 27% (September 2022) to 93% (January 2023). This means that 93% of patients were seen within two weeks of referral y The 28 day faster diagnosis standard has improved from 82% (September 2022) to 93.5% (December 2022). This means that we diagnosed 93.5% of patients on a cancer pathway within 28 days y The number of patients waiting over 62 days for treatment has reduced from

26 patients (October 2022) to eight currently and the team are working towards reducing this further y Paediatric patients who require a routine appointment are seen within three to four weeks – the national standard is 18 weeks.

To achieve this, the team carried out a thorough review and analysis into their processes and performance and set a clear plan to improve and remain on track. This included reducing the number of insourcing companies (extra support) to carry out clinics, ensuring that our patients are seen by the right clinician, at the right time, and maximising clinic utilisation. The dermatology consultants also adopted a proactive approach and allowed a level of flexibility in their clinic templates to see fast track referral patients and to help clear the waiting list.

A huge thank you to all involved – this demonstrates how truly living our values can make a real difference.