executive at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, at the Digital Health’s Autumn Leadership Summit reported that the trusts' digital programmes, which included Babylon's Ask A&E chat service had cut the number of preventable hospital visits by 63%. In December 2021, as the Trust reported an increase of nearly 50% demand on A&E to pre-pandemic levels, as well as highlighting its knock-on effect that Covid-19 had on ward space and how Covid-19 measures affected patient flow through A&E, it increased capacity opening two additional wards at Good Hope, Heartlands and Queen Elizabeth hospitals as well as further theatres at Solihull Hospital as the ‘cold’ Covid-free site for elective surgery. In January 2022 it became known that the Trust had submitted plans to Birmingham City Council to build a top-class training centre at Good Hope Hospital, which was needed due to the increased number of medical students. The 1,9m investment would provide support to existing and future staff as well as the local community. Performance In December 2013 the Trust was one of thirteen hospital trusts named by Dr Foster Intelligence as having higher than expected mortality indicator scores for the period April 2012 to March 2013 in their Hospital Guide 2013. In August 2014 the trust wrote to local Clinical Commissioning Groups advising them that it would no longer accept referrals into pain, dermatology and general surgery from GPs outside the boundary of the trust because of capacity problems. The Trust had been forced to fully re-open the former Queen Elizabeth Hospital, which was supposed to be closed after the new site was opened in 2010. In October 2014 Julie Moore called for a major overhaul of financial rules to help popular hospitals cope with the extra demand their reputations attract. The trust expected to finish 2015-16 with a deficit of more than £31 million as a result of changes to the NHS tariff. In June 2014 the trust reported that Accident and Emergency Department activity had continued to rise with more than 102,000 attendances, a 4.9% increase over the previous year. It was named by the Health Service Journal as one of the top hundred NHS trusts to work for in 2015. At that time it had 7712 full-time equivalent staff and a sickness absence rate of 3.86%. 82% of staff recommend it as a place for treatment and 70% recommended it as a place to work. In March