Innovative cancer care, staff success, and population health advances celebrated at annual members’ meeting

Innovative cancer treatments, pioneering population health initiatives, Elise and Abhishek AMM.jpgand staff success, took centre stage at this year’s Royal Free London (RFL) annual members’ meeting, one of the trust’s flagship events.

More than 70 members of the public, staff and patients gathered in the Sir William Wells Atrium at the Royal Free Hospital (RFH), to learn more about the trust’s latest achievements and ambitious plans for the future. Staff were also thanked for their achievements and exceptional hard work.

The reflections of patient, Eliese Gray — one of the first people to undergo surgery using the trust’s new da Vinci Xi surgical robot which was funded by the Royal Free Charity — was a highlight of the evening.

Introduced by her surgeon, Dr Abhishek Reekhaye, she shared her remarkable story of resilience and recovery. Eliese’s journey began with an unexpected diagnosis of kidney cancer, discovered during investigations into pneumonia at North Middlesex University Hospital (North Mid). She was referred to the RFH for robotic surgery which is less invasive than a traditional operation and allows patients to get home sooner.

Eliese said she and Dr Reekhaye were astonished by the speed of her recovery.

She added: “The day after the operation I was sitting up in the chair. I was just two days in hospital after my surgery and on the first day home I was walking up and down the stairs.”

Her story underscores how advanced technology is transforming patient outcomes, reducing length of stay in hospital, and enabling patients to return to everyday life sooner.

The meeting also spotlighted the trust’s faculty of population health, which is empowering staff to have meaningful, health‑improving-conversations with patients.

Dr Judith Stanton, director of population health, joined by Sarah Milne, kidney nurse consultant, and Jon Spiers, chief executive of the Royal Free Charity, explained how the faculty was founded and how the charity’s support has been crucial in driving its success.

They shared standout achievements from the first year, including the establishment of seven pilot sites across various clinical teams to embed population health principles into everyday patient care, and the successful training of more than 2,000 staff members.

Looking ahead, they outlined ambitious plans to launch 10 additional pilot sites across the trust and to apply insights gained from these initiatives to drive improvements in urgent and emergency, elective and cancer care.

The event was chaired by Linda Bogod, lead governor, alongside Mark Lam, group chair, and Peter Landstrom, group chief executive.

Linda highlighted the council of governors’ achievements over the past year, including approving the merger with North Mid and welcoming 13 new governors.

Reflecting on wider social challenges, Mark said: “The increasing sense of intolerance, division and hate which we’re witnessing in society has had a profound impact on us all here at the RFL. But I would like to reassure our staff, communities and those of you with us this evening, that we stand together against any form of discrimination, including Islamophobia, antisemitism, or racial hatred of any kind.”

As we approach the one-year milestone of our merger with North Mid, Peter celebrated the progress already made and praised the dedication of our staff.

He said: “We’re already seeing brilliant achievements: improvements in A&E performance, cancer pathways, and virtual ward capacity are clear early wins. Expansion in the number of patients now accessing and enrolled on clinical trials and pooling our collective resources for the good of all our patients, regardless of where you are. Our teams have worked exceptionally hard since January — and I am incredibly proud of what they’ve achieved and how far we’ve already come.”

The evening concluded with an interactive Q&A, giving attendees the opportunity to join the conversation, put questions to executive directors, and share their views.

(Image: Eliese Gray, left, and Dr Abhishek Reekhaye, right)