Challenges

Currently, our overriding challenges include:

• Demand for our services is rising and outstripping capacity in some areas, creating longer waiting times for assessment and treatment
• The people we see have increasingly complex needs
• We have an ageing population with higher than average rates of dementia and serious mental illness
• The needs of children and young people are increasing and changing
• We face significant difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff in key roles, including nurses and doctors - and we also have an ageing workforce
• Many of our buildings and properties require modernisation
• We need to fully understand, explore and embrace the opportunities presented by digital technology.
• Over the next few years the unit cost of providing healthcare will need to decrease, through innovation and efficiency, in order to meet the demands of our population within more constrained financial allocations.