25 May 2020

A message from Neil Macdonald, BHT Chief Executive

Dear Supporter,

First of all I hope you and your friends, families and colleagues are keeping well and safe during this challenging time. I am pleased to be able to write to you not only as the Chief Executive of Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust but also as a Trustee of Scannappeal.

The Covid-19 pandemic is affecting everyone in different ways and I am extremely proud of all of my colleagues at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, who have demonstrated extraordinary resilience and willingness to do everything we can to respond to it.

A significant part of our experience of the response is the scale and pace of change. Across the Trust we have made changes in the space of two weeks which in normal times would have taken us two years to achieve. The list is endless but I hope the following gives you an idea: moving a haematology ward across the county; reshaping all our inpatient bed capacity and infrastructure; having to prioritise and work with partners to identify and look after the most vulnerable in our community services; the complete switch of most outpatient care to virtual consultations; and enabling over 2,000 staff (one third of our workforce) to work from home. I cannot thank each and every one of my colleagues enough for the effort and dedication they have shown.

We have been overwhelmed by countless acts of kindness including donations (I have never seen so many Easter eggs) and offers of services or support. We are delighted to now be working with an array of local businesses and partnerships, for example: a Chesham catering company supplying all of our community sites; a Wycombe aircraft seat upholsterer making us 4,000 scrubs; and we are working with the Business and Innovation school at the University of Buckingham on 3D printing and project design to try and resolve some of our equipment shortages.

I remain very proud to be a Trustee of Scannappeal and I am delighted to see the continued efforts to keep going and fundraise (including the 2.6 challenge)! We are looking forward to being able to reopen our conversations and launch the next new appeals which I know will make a huge difference not only to our team of clinicians but also to patients across the whole of the county. Thank you for your continued support of the Trust and Scannappeal, particularly during this time.

I am grateful for the opportunity to write to you. Take care, and if you want to ask me anything please do get in touch.

Best wishes,
Neil Macdonald
Chief Executive
Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
neil.macdonald4@nhs.net