University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust

Earlier this week, our Chief Executive Daniel Elkeles visited University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust and came away deeply impressed by the scale and pace of transformation underway.

Daniel said: "When my predecessor as chief executive of NHS Providers, Sir Julian Hartley visited University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust his conclusion was 'you are very ambitious'. Two years later I think if he came back he would see the level of ambition undiminished – but now, much of that aspiration has been delivered." 

The trust is in the middle of pulling off one of the biggest service reconfigurations in the NHS, serving a local population of 500,000. This includes a major capital and transformation programme to establish:

• a single emergency care site at Bournemouth,
• a large planned care site in Poole, featuring a 24/7 Urgent Treatment Centre and
• consolidated maternity services, implemented earlier this year.

Despite the scale of change, the trust remains focused on core priorities: improving clinical quality, enhancing operational performance, and maintaining financial balance. It's rightly proud of the reduction of its Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio from 114 to 95, driven by:

• Embedding 'Patient First' improvement methodology across wards.
• Strengthening mortality review meetings with consistent senior clinical leadership presence.
• Systematically sharing and implementing learning from incidents.
• Significantly reducing length of time complaints are investigated in.
• Developing an electronic quality dashboard for each area of the organisation. 

It's also making big improvements in delivering planned care and is the best performing hospital in the south west for diagnostic performance . In 2024/25, it treated 130,000 patients through its Community Diagnostic Hub and spokes.

Innovative use of AI tools and techniques has helped manage its waiting lists. By analysing over 1.4 million attendances, the trust identified patterns in patient behaviour, enabling smarter appointment reminders and improved short-notice booking.

This led to a 17% reduction in Did Not Attend (DNA) rates, and an increase of 1,600 outpatient appointments per quarter.

It's also been actively validating its waiting lists and increasing patient-initiated follow-ups, which has reduced waiting lists by 16,000 people. By integrating advice and guidance software with its EPR, it's doubled the number of patients dermatologists can review in a session.  

To date, the trust has delivered 119% of elective activity target for the year and is now developing a women’s health hub, inspired by successful models in London and Oxford.