Dragon Interview: Royal Surrey CEO Louise Stead

Published on: 8 Dec, 2021
Updated on: 9 Dec, 2021

The Royal Surrey County Hospital

Louise Stead

Louise Stead the chief executive officer at the Royal Surrey County Hospital has a daunting responsibility. She has to answer for the running of the 520-bed hospital in what is almost certainly its most challenging period.

Not only is it winter time a normally busier period for the NHS but we are still in the midst of a pandemic, with the uncertain consequences of the, newly emerged, Omicron variant, and there is the knock-on effects of the pandemic on waiting lists for “normal” medical treatment.

Louise Stead can’t fully explain why Covid admissions at the RSCH have been consistently lower than at other Surrey hospitals. See also: Local Covid-19 Stats

But Ms Stead, in this latest Dragon interview with her, remains upbeat, which readers can see for themselves in the interview as she answers Martin Giles‘ questions on the current situation at Guildford’s local hospital, and the staff morale. Please watch…

Responses to Dragon Interview: Royal Surrey CEO Louise Stead

Christian Petersen Reply

December 10, 2021 at 3:26 pm

What a lovely interview, and so nice to see Louise Stead for the first time.

Thank you Guildford Dragon for organising it and asking intelligent questions. And thank you Louise for answering them in a straightforward and honest way.

This is so refreshing after the wave of stupid if not dishonest words we’ve heard from many politicians recently.

I’ll always be a supporter of the Royal Surrey having been treated exceptionally well there as a cancer inpatient in 2018. It sounds like a great place to work, if I were younger.

Best wishes to Louise Stead and all the staff.
Emma Heal Reply

December 13, 2021 at 12:30 pm

Great interview – plain-speaking, addressing (not ducking) the questions asked and a good balance between a cautious outlook without promoting despair.

Not sure the data in the table does support the statement that Royal Surrey has fewer Covid cases per bed than others (eg SASH is less than half that of Royal Surrey).

Thanks to all Royal Surrey staff for their dedication and excellent support at all times.

Editor’s comment: the latest stats for Covid admissions show 12 at the 697-bed Surrey and Sussex Hospital (SASH) compared with 18 at the 520-bed Royal Surrey. But the Royal Surrey has been consistently in the bottom two of the table during the pandemic, more often at the bottom.
Dave Middleton Reply

December 13, 2021 at 4:46 pm

For the first 50 years of my life I’m lucky to be able to say that I barely saw the inside of a hospital as a “customer”.

In the last few years, I’ve been required to attend the RSCH for some small procedures and tests and a couple of small operations. I have to say that the staff of all departments and grades have always been kind, courteous, caring and professional.

Touch wood, I’ll never have need of treatment for anything serious, but if I do, I fully trust the staff of the RSCH to do what needs to be done, to make me well again if they can.