What our strategy will mean for patients by 2031
The changes that we will make will change the way we look after our patients.
When we deliver against our strategy, this is what our 2031 patients can expect from LGT.
We will help you stay well
You will get advice and support earlier, before a health problem becomes more serious.
You will get more care closer to home
When it is right for you, you will be cared for at home or in your local community instead of having to go to hospital.
You will wait less time for care
We will work to make appointments, tests, treatment and emergency care quicker and more consistent.
You will receive safe and kind care
We will treat you with dignity, listen to you and learn when things could have gone better.
Your care will be better joined up.
The different people and services supporting you will work together, including when you move between hospital and home.
You will not have to keep repeating your story.
Your care teams will be able to see the information they need, and we will explain your healthcare clearly.
You will have more choice and control
You will be involved in decisions about your care and able to manage appointments and information online if you want to. Other ways to contact us will still be available.
You will get tests, results and treatment sooner
Where possible, we will arrange what you need in fewer visits and closer to home.
Your care will be right for you
We will consider your needs, preferences and circumstances, give you information in a way you can understand and make reasonable adjustments when needed.
You will be cared for in better places by teams with more time for you
Our buildings will be safer and easier to use, and simpler systems will help our colleagues spend more time caring for patients.
Our care in 2031: illustrative patient examples
We’ve brought this to life through the illustrative patient case studies that bring together our commitments and show how joined-up care could feel for people with different needs in five years’ time. They reflect our ambition for earlier support, equitable access, informed choice, clear communication and safer transitions between services.
They are illustrations, rather than guarantees for individual patients, and are not intended to represent every community, protected characteristic, condition or care pathway across Lewisham, Greenwich and Bexley.
Back to the list
Caring for Denise in 2031
Denise is 63, has lived in London all her life and lives with COPD. She also has high blood pressure and has previously needed emergency care when her breathing worsened.
Like every patient, Denise expects her background, preferences and individual needs to be understood without assumptions being made about her. Her care team also recognises that wider factors, including housing, income and access to local support, can affect her health and ability to stay well.
Denise’s care is organised around helping her stay well at home. She has a clear, personalised care plan, developed with her, rather than for her. Her GP, community teams and hospital clinicians can all see the same up-to-date information through a single electronic patient record. Denise does not have to repeat her medical history each time she sees someone, and changes to her medication or care are visible to everyone involved.
Most of Denise’s routine support is provided close to home. Her neighbourhood team brings together primary, community, hospital, mental health, local authority and voluntary-sector services. She knows who to contact when she has a question and can speak to someone before a concern becomes a crisis. Appointments are coordinated, communication is clear and she is treated as a whole person, rather than as a series of separate conditions.
Denise uses digital services where they are helpful to her. Through My Chart, she can access her records digitally and can see appointments, test results and her care plan. She can choose remote appointments when they are appropriate, but face-to-face and non-digital support remain available. Technology increases her choices; it does not become a barrier to care.
With Denise’s agreement, simple monitoring technology helps her and her care team recognise early signs that her COPD may be worsening. If she becomes more breathless, support is arranged quickly. A community clinician may visit her at home, review her treatment or connect her with the wider team. Where needed, Urgent Community Response or NHS @home provides hospital-level care without an avoidable admission.
If Denise does need urgent care, she reaches the right service quickly. Her clinicians can see her record, current medicines and care plan, so decisions are made safely and without unnecessary delay. Same Day Emergency Care and specialist pathways mean she is assessed, treated and able to return home on the same day whenever that is clinically appropriate.
If hospital admission is necessary, Denise experiences compassionate, joined-up care. She understands what is happening and is involved in decisions. Teams work together from the start to plan her recovery and discharge. Delays are reduced, tests happen promptly and she does not stay in hospital longer than she needs to. When she returns home, the right community support is already in place.
Throughout her care, Denise feels listened to, respected and safe. Information is explained in plain language, with time for questions. Her cultural background and personal circumstances are considered as part of good, individualised care - not treated as a shortcut for assumptions about her needs. She has genuine choice and control, and her feedback is used to improve services.
Five years from now, Denise’s experience of LGT is not defined by moving between organisations or navigating complicated systems. It is defined by earlier support, fewer avoidable hospital visits, shorter waits, clearer communication and care that feels connectedaround her life.
Denise is an illustrative patient.