Preston-based CHEC, one of the UK’s leading providers of community healthcare, has launched an enhanced go-to-market strategy that will better align its service offerings and provision with the NHS’ evolving needs. Announced at its annual conference – CHEC Re:Set – the new strategy brings an improved business structure, bolstered communications, and a broader range of development opportunities for the CHEC team.
The conference was the ideal forum for CHEC to celebrate its continued growth before looking ahead to the future. In the last 18 months, CHEC has successfully increased its hospital sites from 10 to 21, with the most recent opening in Stockport and Sheffield earlier this year. Plans are already underway to launch new sites in Milton Keynes, Ilford and Warrington.
Across its ophthalmology and endoscopy services, CHEC consulted over 335,000 patients in 2022/23 (CHEC Annual Quality Report, 2023), helping to reduce NHS waiting times by providing access to specialist care and treatments in the community.
To better align service provision with NHS and community needs, CHEC has restructured some of its teams, including the introduction of NHS Partnership Executives. This comes after the business bolstered its leadership with a series of new appointments including the promotion of David Morris to Director of Operations, Iwona Ngody to Director of Community Services, and Jose Bailey to Commercial Director.
Initially joining CHEC as Quality Coordinator five years ago, Jose has gained valuable experience across all operations and is excited for the company’s next stage of growth. “A lot has changed since I first joined – all of which is hugely positive. We’re aiming to set a new standard for community healthcare, and patient care and choice are front and centre of our strategy,” explains Jose.
Originally launched as Community Health Eye Care, the company later rebranded as CHEC to better reflect its expanding range of community healthcare services. Jose continues: “We’re one of the largest providers of community-based ophthalmology services in the UK. This year alone we’re 147 per cent ahead of our treatment targets. But we recognise that to truly give patients choice – and support the NHS with reducing waiting times – there needs to be more community healthcare services available. That’s been a key driver behind the introduction of gastroenterology services, with endoscopy treatments and diagnostics now being offered at eight of our sites.”
While the Re:Set conference focused on driving forward enhancements and expanding CHEC’s community ophthalmology reach, it also reinforced the company’s commitment to raising industry standards through education and its CPD programme.