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Visit to Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust

2 June 2025

NHS Providers chief executive Daniel Elkeles visits Lewisham Hospital at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust.

  • Quality

  • Leadership

At the end of last week Daniel Elkeles enjoyed a visit to Lewisham Hospital with Ben Travis, chief executive of Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust - a quiet success story in South East London.

Over the past nine months, the team has achieved remarkable progress. It's made substantial improvements in staff culture and leadership, and through a combination of pathway redesign and validation work, has reduced its waiting list from 70,000 to 55,000 patients.

In urgent and emergency care, the opening of a new Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) has transformed flow - now handling nearly half of daily patient volume, with 99% of patients seen within four hours. This not only supports better care but has significantly improved productivity and the experience for both patients and staff.

Daniel said: "One of the real standouts was their maternity service, rated 'outstanding for leadership' by the Care Quality Commission. It's clear this team is proud of what they've achieved, and for good reason:

🔵Visible board leadership through regular walkabouts and active safety champions.
🔵Turnover reduced to less than 5%, thanks to creative local recruitment filling vacancies.
🔵Considered staffing approach, choosing not to implement Birth Rate Plus but agreeing local safe staffing levels.
🔵Focus on addressing health inequalities, with mothers who smoke at birth down from 11% to just 4%.

Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers with four members of the team at Lewisham Hospital.

This visit showcased the impact of deliberate leadership, staff empowerment, and a patient-first mindset.

Thank you to Ben, Shirley, Irene and Nicola for the warm welcome and thoughtful insights."