• NHS England Chief Executive visited Royal Bolton Hospital on Tuesday 3 June
• Sir Jim Mackey spent time with staff in Elective Care Centre, Urgent Care and Laboratories
• Tour of hospital highlighted success within services and challenges with aging estate

NHS England’s Chief Executive has visited Royal Bolton Hospital to learn more about some of Bolton NHS Foundation Trust’s significant improvements to services and major estate developments.

Sir Jim Mackey visited the Elective Care Centre, Urgent Care and stepped behind the scenes to see the work the hospital’s Laboratories.

Whilst in the Elective Care Centre, which opened in January 2024, Sir Jim heard about the investment to create a new and modern theatre suite and the creation of on-site pre-assessment clinics, which aim to introduce patients to the environment and meet staff before they have their operation.

The tour included a brief visit through the multimillion pound redevelopment of maternity and women’s health care, following the identification of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in 2023.

In Urgent Care, Sir Jim spoke to clinical and operational teams about a programme of transformation to improve performance and the timeliness and quality of care patients receive, which recently resulted in the Trust being named the third most improved in the country for 12-hour performance.

The visit concluded in Laboratories, with a focus on some the hospital’s aging estate, where capacity is limited and further RAAC exists. Despite these challenges, Bolton has been named first in the country for the accuracy of tests in breast screening and its antenatal screening lab is the highest performing in England.

In a message to Trust staff following the visit, Sir Jim Mackey said:

It was really energising to spend some time with the Bolton team, where I was able to see so many great things and understand in more detail about recent improvements to a number of services across the organisation.

“The positivity about neighbourhood care, and what that means for a very community embedded organisation was powerful. What was really most impressive, and striking, was the very obvious pride and passion from all of the colleagues we met. Working in Bolton was very clearly important to them and that’s so valuable – with that you can achieve anything.

There is a wonderful atmosphere where everyone acknowledges each other, staff should all be very proud of what they are achieving, at times in a less than ideal physical environment.

Sir Jim Mackey was able to spend time with staff throughout the tour, including Gareth Adedeji from the Trust’s estates partner, iFM Bolton, who spoke about taking part in the weekend’s Bolton IRONMAN 70.3 event.

Fiona Noden, Chief Executive at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, said:

It was a pleasure to welcome Sir Jim to Bolton to understand some of the challenges we are experiencing, but also where we are making significant improvements to both our environment, estates and care that we provide.

“I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved over the past twelve months and it was great to able to showcase some of that on the day.

“It makes me proud to work for an organisation where everyone is so enthusiastic and proud of the part they play. Despite facing challenges, all of our teams are working incredibly hard to ensure patients continue to receive safe, high quality and effective care, and we’ll continue to strive to make improvements so that our services are fit for the future.

More information about Bolton NHS Foundation Trust can be found on our website.