REVIEW OF THE YEAR BY THE CHAIRMAN

Not only has theagenda been aboutcost reduction, wehave also made aseries ofimprovements topatient services. Thenew Lancashire Cardiac Centre andDay Surgery Unit offer our patientsmodern, well-equipped environmentsand enable us to provide moreeffective care. In addition, a numberof our clinical teams, supported byeffective management, havedemonstrated our ability to deliverimprovements to patient care –shorter waiting times and significantlyfewer cancellations whilst improvingour efficiency.There have been many similarachievements in a wide range ofareas, which are highlighted in thepages of this Annual Report, thatshow it is possible to deliver both highquality and cost effective services forour patients.We have also reduced waiting times inall areas and we are one of only 12Trusts nationally selected to deliverthe 18 weeks maximum waiting timeby December 2007 – a year earlierthan planned.Looking to the future, we have anexciting but challenging time ahead aswe prepare for Foundation Truststatus, which gives every staff memberthe chance to become a member ofthe Trust and influence itsdevelopment.The on-going implementation of TheBlackpool Way is vital in order toimprove the levels of job satisfactionand effective management across ourTrust. Our future success dependsentirely on your continuingcommitment, dedication and talent ingiving our patients the best possiblecare.Thank you for your efforts in 2006/07and your continued commitment tothe Trust as we aim to achieve evengreater success in 2007/08.Julian HartleyChief Executive05