"Working to demonstrate that the redevelopment will be affordable was a key challenge"
After graduating in Economics, Adeeb secured his first job in the NHS as an assistant management accountant at Hammersmith Hospital. Since then he has held a number of roles across the health and care system at a regional and national level, including within the civil service. We asked Adeeb a few questions about his role in the redevelopment and future plans for your new state-of-the-art hospital.
Hi Adeeb, it's great to have you here with us today. How would you assess the progress of the redevelopment?
Even with challenges we continue to be in a positive place! We have achieved a lot in the past two years, including completion of phase 1 enabling works, achieving outline planning permission for the new hospital, securing national support to progress with phase 2 of our enabling works, and the establishment of the integrated delivery framework (IDF). Although there have been delays, we are continuing to work with national colleagues to secure decisions, so that we can deliver the new, modern hospital that our staff and north east London residents deserve.
What impact has inflation had on the redevelopment and what does this mean for the project moving forward?
Inflation has presented new challenges that we are working through. This is not unique to our programme and regardless of increased cost due to inflation it does not negate the need for a new Whipps Cross Hospital and the case for change.
What challenges have you faced during the project and how did you combat them?
From a personal perspective, and linked to my role, working to demonstrate that the redevelopment will be affordable and value for money was a key challenge. This is a key part of assuring national colleagues that the redevelopment is worth doing from a purely financial and economic perspective, before considering the significant benefits for our patients and community.
How important is it that the benefits associated with transforming services in the community can be measured?
It’s essential that we know the positive impacts transformation is having on how we provide services to our patients, our staff and the local community. This is one of the reasons we have continued, as part of the IDF, to work with local patient and community organisations to identify measures and metrics that demonstrate the impact of investment. We also know that, once the hospital is built, we will need to report the benefits that have been delivered through the redevelopment of Whipps Cross.