For an organisation that has more than 6,500 colleagues providing services 24/7 across hospitals and in the community, it is safe to say that there is a lot going on. It’s important that we have a common set of priorities that we all contribute to in order to achieve what we are here for - offering safe and high-quality services to our local communities.
Our priorities for 2026/27 are:
Deliver outstanding care
We will…
- Reduce the time our patients spend away from home
- Improve the safety and quality of our services, so patients have a good experience
- Provide care more quickly so patients get better outcomes
We will do this by…
- Improving how we manage discharge on wards
- Making sure we consistently get the fundamentals of care right for every patient, in a truly person-centred way
- Providing care that meets the unique needs of each patient and reflects the needs of our communities
- Improving the first 72 hours of care so they meet national clinical and operational standards
Make the best use of our physical and financial resources
We will…
- Make sure we use public money wisely and keep our organisation financially stable
- Make our care more effective and keep improving and transforming the way we deliver services
- Use new digital tools that enhance patient care, improve colleague experience, and boost productivity
- Get the most out of our current buildings and facilities, while planning the changes needed to move more care into the community as part of the 10 Year Health Plan
We will do this by…
- Delivering our breakeven plan and strengthen our financial position by March 2027
- Supporting Divisions and corporate teams to be financially confident and accountable by:
- Providing training, access to the right data, and support to help them make financial improvements
- Reducing service costs and / or increasing income
- Use benchmarking information and examples of best practice in our daily work to improve all our services
- Rolling out Scribe across all clinical services during 2026/27 and make sure we achieve the full benefits from using it
- Introducing patient self booking through the Patient Engagement Portal (PEP+) to improve access and make our processes more efficient.
- Prepare for the shared Electronic Patient Record (EPR) across Lancashire and South Cumbria so it can be introduced safely and effectively
- Make the best use of our buildings and facilities by using it better, reducing waste, and investing where it will have the greatest impact for patients and colleagues
- Planning and developing our estate so we can move more care from hospitals into the community and support new, more joined up models of care
Work in partnership
We will…
- Work with partners to reduce demand into acute services by implementing new models of care that shift care into the community and therefore improve experience and outcomes for patients and carers
- Work with the Integrated Care Board and local NHS providers to develop new ways of delivering care that make historically fragile services sustainable for the future
We will do this by:
- Launching an Integrated Wellness Service (IWS) in Lancaster
- Working with local partners to review the Integrated Care Community offer and make sure it meets the needs of neighbourhoods and local communities
- Supporting the introduction of the new Hub and Spoke model for secondary care orthodontics by the end of 2026/27 to keep the service sustainable
Create the culture and conditions for our colleagues to be the very best they can be
We will…
- Keep building a compassionate, inclusive culture where colleagues feel safe, valued, and able to be themselves, with equal opportunities for everyone
- Improve colleagues’ experience by creating a culture where their voice, involvement, and contribution truly matter
- Make sure colleagues are supported, encouraged, and given chances to learn and develop
- Create workforce models that are resilient and sustainable for the future
We will do this by:
- Delivering programmes that promote equality, diversity and inclusion, and tackle hate, racism, violence at work and sexual safety issues
- Continuing to deliver the NHS’s six key actions that help reduce discrimination and create a more inclusive workplace
- Improving how we involve colleagues, so they feel listened to, valued and part of making change happen
- Putting our new Health and Wellbeing Strategy into action
- Launching programmes that help build a strong learning culture across the organisation
- Giving extra support to colleagues in the new Divisional structures so they can get the most from the new operating model
- Reviewing our workforce in key areas where we know there are pressures, and plan how we will meet the goals in the 10 Year Health Plan