Redbridge’s mental health trust unveils new state-of-the-art HQ

The hospital trust responsible for providing Redbridge’s mental health services has transformed its headquarters.

The North East London NHS Foundation Trust (Nelft) officially opened its new head office and training centre at a special ceremony on Tuesday.

Part of the transformation sees its new workspace transformed into an “agile working” office, allowing staff to choose where to work from, instead of being shown to a department or desk.

This means staff can work from a variety of locations, including the new office, in the community or elsewhere around the borough.

The move makes Nelft the largest NHS Foundation Trust in England to work agilely.

The CEME Centre, in Rainham, has 165 agile workspaces, seven meeting rooms, six training rooms, two IT training rooms and a boardroom.

There is also a large area of shared central workspace and a meeting pod.

The ribbon cutting was carried out by former NHS Trust chairman Roy Lilley.

He was joined by the mayors of the four boroughs the trust covers, including the Mayor of Redbridge, Cllr Gurdial Bhamra and the Mayor of Havering, Cllr Philippa Crowder.

Nelft chief executive John Brouder said: “Agile working will transform the way that the trust cares for patients.

“Many trusts allow corporate staff to work agilely, but we wanted to go further and equip nursing staff with the tools to spend more time with their patients and less time in an office doing admin.

“Of course, it’s not possible for all staff to work agilely - but we will be rolling out devices to as many as possible as there are obvious benefits.

“Staff are able to use mobile devices while visiting in the community which frees up their time and allows them longer to speak with the patient.

“These steps are making staff more efficient and delivering a better service for patients.”