NHS Cheshire and Merseyside May 2025 Blog
Thursday, 15 May 2025
This will be my final Monthly Update blog ahead of my retirement in June 2025.
I am proud of what the Cheshire and Merseyside system has achieved since the inception of NHS Cheshire and Merseyside in July 2022.
For the first time ever, cancer survival rates in Cheshire and Merseyside have risen above the all-England average due to a combination of targeted work – for example on lung health checks – and a step-change in access to early diagnosis.
Strong performance continues to be achieved in diagnostics more generally too. Cheshire and Merseyside was the first Integrated Care System to re-achieve (post-COVID-19) the key waiting list target for 90% of patients to receive a diagnostic test within six weeks.
I am also proud to report that access to primary care – a key priority for local people – continues to be significantly improved. There were more than 500,000 additional primary care appointments in 2024-25 compared to the previous 12-month period.
Cheshire and Merseyside is also delivering outstanding stroke outcomes – with Whiston Hospital ranked first and Aintree Hospital third in the country.
It remains a key priority to reduce the time people wait for planned care – in particular for those who have waited longest – and tireless work throughout 2024-25 enabled more than 47,000 people who would have otherwise waited 65 weeks or more to be treated sooner.
Despite these achievements, the Cheshire and Merseyside health and care system continues to consume more than its share of resources, with a requirement for all public services to reduce cost and increase productivity.
Against this backdrop, we look forward to the launch of the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan, the opportunity to build models of neighbourhood health for the future and the prospect of further embedding initiatives which deliver the ‘three shifts’, namely: moving care from hospitals to communities, making better use of technology, and focusing on preventing sickness, not just treating it.
In Cheshire and Merseyside, I am pleased to report that this challenge will begin with strong foundations due to our already innovative use of data and technology.
Finally, I would like to wish my successor Cathy Elliott all the very best and to thank colleagues who work across all parts of the local NHS for their compassion, dedication and commitment.
It has been an honour to end my career serving the people of Cheshire and Merseyside.
Graham Urwin - Chief Executive