It’s been an incredibly busy start to the year for staff working at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon, in our community hospitals and in people’s homes across Wiltshire.

Along with the rest of the NHS, we have experienced unprecedented demand for our services which you will have seen in the media.

This is one of the toughest times anyone can remember. We are now caring for around 1,300 more unplanned patients a month than we were in 2011. Attendances to A&E have been significantly higher than last year, with almost 800 more patients attending in December, compared with last year.

As we all live longer, more of us rely on health and social care services, so we expect demand for our services to continue to increase.

There is no doubt it’s challenging. As we prioritise patients needing the most urgent care, at the busiest times, some patients in A&E are waiting longer than we would like. The challenges facing the NHS can’t be solved by a single hospital or organisation. It relies on all local health and social care services working together, to keep people well and out of hospital and making sure beds are available for those who cannot be cared for anywhere else. And that is what we’re doing. Regardless of how busy things get, providing good, safe care is always our priority. We need to support our staff to help them deliver the best care they can. Caring for others is one of the most rewarding, yet toughest, jobs there is.

I am incredibly proud of how hard all of our staff are working to treat the high numbers of patients we are seeing. The incredible level of loyalty, dedication and hard work I see on a daily basis is humbling.

I have great confidence in this organisation and in all of our staff and I would like to express my sincere thanks for their hard work.

Please look out for elderly friends, relatives and neighbours and encourage them to seek help early on. Around one in four people attending A&E could be treated more quickly elsewhere. Find out more on our website www.gwh.nhs.uk

Nerissa Vaughan, Chief executive, Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.