Nnenna on tour in Redbridge

To continue her tour across north east London, Nnenna joined colleagues from the Redbridge place-based partnership – including Tracey Rubery and Jeremy Kidd from the Redbridge place team, Luke Burton, Havering Place Lead, and Adam Croom from the communications and participation team – for a visit to a range of key services, hearing directly from staff, partners, residents and patients about the challenges and opportunities shaping care locally.

With Redbridge one of the fastest growing and most diverse boroughs in London, the visit highlighted rising demand, changing population needs and the importance of having strong relationships with our local partners across health, the Council and the voluntary sector.

• King George Hospital (BHRUT): Discussions with different colleagues and teams focused on increasing demand and changing patient acuity, with funding for population growth in outer London not yet keeping pace. Colleagues shared challenges around discharge, with patients often medically fit to leave but unable to do so due to a lack of suitable housing and limited community provision. This impacts around 10% of patients, although colleagues noted the true figure is likely to be closer to 20% or higher. The visit also highlighted a strong team culture supporting staff retention, alongside improvements in patient flow, reduced corridor care and work to shorten length of stay – helping reduce reliance on agency staff. Nnenna also visited the award winning Iris ward, which has not had a patient incident in five years, and heard from Ward Manager Sinead Skelton about how the team has been able to upskill, while exploring how spare bed capacity in the ward could potentially be better utilised across the system.
• Goodmayes Hospital (NELFT): A focus on mental health provision, including pressures on inpatient beds and the number of patients placed out of area, was discussed. Teams also raised the the need for stronger alignment across the system, particularly in sharing capacity and improving use of community services. The importance of seven-day community working, improved data sharing (including with NEL ICB) and co-production with patients were key themes, alongside the growing complexity of need following the pandemic. @NELFT are also exploring how spare capacity within @ELFT could be used to better manage demand and support a shift towards more community-based care.
• The Welcome Centre (Ilford): Hearing how the centre supports around 40–45 people who are experiencing homelessness each day (and up to 300 clients overall), providing practical support alongside health and wellbeing services commissioned by NEL ICB. Nnenna was also joined by local authority housing colleagues at The Welcome Centre, where she received a warm welcome from the Centre’s Manager’s, Sonia and Ilir – the latter previously a service user and volunteer with an incredible story. Staff emphasised the importance of trust, relationships and tailored support – from immediate health needs to longer-term interventions, such as art therapy and employment support. They also highlighted opportunities for closer working with the London Borough of Redbridge on commissioning, alongside improving access to dental and primary care services for their clients.
• Ilford Exchange Health Centre: A look at how services are being brought closer to home within the Ilford Exchange shopping centre, including the Women’s Health Hub, CQC-rated ‘good’ maternity services, sexual health and vaccination clinics. The visit highlighted progress in reducing waiting times, particularly in gynaecology, and opportunities to further integrate services – including primary care, mental health and social prescribing – alongside improving digital connectivity and referral pathways.
• Redbridge system overview: Led by Jeremy Kidd, colleagues from the Redbridge place team reflected on key population health challenges. These include rising levels of long-term conditions such as type 2 diabetes (growing by 2.5% every year), significant housing pressures with a 19-year waiting list, and inequalities in life expectancy, with women living four years more on average four years longer than men. Discussions focused on addressing health through a wider social lens, alongside strengthening neighbourhood working and outreach services.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who supported the visit and shared their insights on the day. Look out for further blogs on Nnenna’s borough visits as they continue across north east London in the coming months – highlighting the vital work taking place across our system and the collective effort to improve outcomes for our local communities.

#NnennasFirst100Days #Redbridge #NHS #NorthEastLondon #YourNELICB