Posted on: 19 March 2021
Hello my name is Kersten.
As we begin to dare to dream about life after the pandemic I want to pay tribute to the incredible work, generosity of spirit and resilience shown by communities right across our integrated care system during this time. This energy, tenacity and passion for positive social action needs to be at the heart of our work on recovery. We need a people powered recovery.
We know that COVID-19 has rippled along the fracture lines of the deep health inequalities in West Yorkshire and Harrogate. It has disproportionately devastated the lives of poor families, low paid front line workers, those living in large multi-generational households in densely occupied neighbourhoods, moving along the fault lines of class, ethnicity, disability and gender. Alongside the intense and often traumatic scenes from the front line in health and social care there are different but also traumatic scenes playing out in homes across our patch. Families have lost loved ones and are grieving, people are struggling with the debilitating effects of long COVID, or shouldering the burden of additional caring responsibilities; children have missed out on so much that is part of childhood and people have lost employment and income. These are all present enduring challenges for those of us working to create health and well-being.
That is why our work and commitment to tackling health inequalities and building greater levels of social justice, equality and diversity across our system in West Yorkshire and Harrogate is so critical - and at times daunting. It will require significant change right across our system in what we prioritise, what we invest in and the way we work.
What gives me hope are the thousands of acts of kindness, generosity and compassion we’ve witnessed at a local level as neighbourhoods, voluntary community and social enterprise organisations (VCSE), faith organisations and local businesses mobilised to support people and families.
Just from my own patch, Bradford, we saw the spontaneous creation of over 50 local community hubs providing access to food, medicines and social support for people who were shielding, self-isolating or in hardship. Local food businesses made sure food was available which met the cultural dietary requirements of our diverse communities. Through the winter people made sure no child went without access to food and that families had access to support for fuel bills through the community led ‘no child cold campaign’.
Clinicians, clerics and community champions from across our diverse communities came together to engage household by household in garden gate conversations, participation in webinars and posting of social media content. They busted myths, allayed fears and encouraged engagement with testing and vaccination. Young people got on the streets listening to their peers sharing how the pandemic was affecting them and bringing critical feedback and insight which shaped our work.
Amazing work was done by one of our leading disability organisations making all literature about the pandemic accessible for people with learning disabilities or sensory impairments. Faith communities supported their congregations to observe the important and normally communal festivals of the year and feel connected even whilst apart. Organisations ran online fitness sessions, delivered craft materials to families, equipped young photographers to curate their experiences of the pandemic. Others came together to offer counselling and support for those grieving.
I could go on and on. This is only the tip of the iceberg. And I know this happened across every district not just Bradford. Throughout the pandemic I think we made huge strides in terms of collaborative working with people and communities. From front line to the strategic our leadership arenas brought people together across the VCSE, faith, private and public sector with a greater unity of purpose, parity of esteem, and deepening appreciation of our different perspectives, insight and distinctive contributions we might bring. There was no playbook for responding to a pandemic of this scale. We’ve created it and we couldn’t have collectively responded as effectively, as I believe we have, without the deep insights and action of our community partners.
I’m not naive. This can be messy stuff. It involves money, power, authority, accountability and trust, difficult uncomfortable and tricky conversations about who represents whom and also about what is important. But as we begin to plan for recovery I’m determined to work with the mantra ‘nothing about us without us is for us’ at the forefront of our work not as an afterthought. We cannot deliver social justice and greater levels of health equity without it.
Have a safe weekend.
Kersten
What else has been happening this week?
Partnership supports Young Carers Action Day
The Partnership launched a new young carers App on the 16 March as part of Young Carers Action Day. The App has been coproduced with young carers following feedback on what support they need to make their caring role easier. Feedback included the importance of virtual anonymous support and advice on how to maintain their physical and mental wellbeing. The theme of this year’s Young Carers Action Day is about protecting young carers’ futures and making sure that all young and young adult carers get the support they need to go after their dreams. Young Carers Action Day is an annual event led by the Carers Trust. It raises awareness and calls for action to increase support for young people with caring responsibilities. Young carers and young adult carers have done an amazing job before and during the pandemic with many finding themselves with increased caring responsibilities coupled with less time spent at school, in college or with friends. Many have found their lives turned upside down with feelings of stress or anxiety heightened, with nowhere to go for support.
Our Partnership is committed to addressing the inequalities that young carers face. The launch of the APP called ‘YC support’ will enable young carers to access information on how to look after their health and wellbeing as well as support available to them in their caring role, including local the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) who can offer bespoke advice and support to young people. The ‘YC support’ app was produced by ‘Expert Self Care’, an organisation who provide health information, promote self-care and signpost services through trusted mobile apps, led by Dr Knut Schroeder, a Bristol based GP and Health App Developer.
The Partnership is also running an awareness raising campaign with local carer’s organisations across education settings with the aim of reminding teachers to look out for the signs that students may also be carers and that simple things put in place can make their life better – for example keeping their phone on when in lessons. You can read more in this news article about Young Carers Action Day on the Partnership website.
Partnership System Oversight and Assurance Group
The Partnership’s System Oversight and Assurance Group (SOAG) met on Wednesday. This group has been established to take an overview of progress with our shared priority programmes, and to agree collective action to help tackle shared challenges. In this meeting the group reviewed an update on digital inclusion including feedback from Healthwatch and our digital programme lead; planned care and recovery; the work of our local maternity system and finance. There was also an update from our programmes including mental health, learning disability and autism; primary and community care workforce; our work with voluntary community social enterprise sector and the work we are doing to tackle health inequalities.
Have you heard of Andy's Man Club?
Men's mental health and male suicide are two of the most stigmatised subjects facing society in 2021, West Yorkshire-based organisation Andy's Man Club have been challenging those stigmas and offering free, peer-to-peer support for men every Monday night since 2016. NHS Electrician Andy Kilburn attended an Andy's Man Club session for the first time in early 2020. Andy is now helping to facilitate the Dewsbury branch of the club after an inspiring journey.
Here's what he has to say:
"From late 2017, I found myself in a position where a build up across several years of stresses and anxieties had got the better of me. One of the biggest contributing factors to this was how uncomfortable I felt talking to people about my issues and feeling as though I was burdening people. I finally took the step to seek help and following on from some fantastic support from the NHS, I took the decision to attend an Andy's Man Club session for the first time in early 2020. At first, I had my reservations about Andy's Man Club. Would anyone care or be able to relate to the issues I mentioned? Would there be a negative atmosphere at the sessions? What are the people like who attend? Within 2 sessions, I realised quickly that any preconceptions I had about Andy's Man Club were false. Being able to speak openly in an anonymous, non-judgmental environment and then pass on my own experiences to men later as a part of the facilitator's team has been so, so rewarding."
To attend an Andy's Man Club session, email info
The Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism Programme Board
The Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism Programme Board met last week and heard updates about many of the important projects underway. Key amongst these are the new staff mental health and wellbeing hub, which is moving at pace to launch its support offer at the end of the month. Funding for the hub has been secured for next year, enabling the project to invest in the focus on individual colleague support for psychological distress.
The ‘Learning Disability Challenge’ is taking shape, including improving and making data on impact more visible, developing a communications campaign, improving training and awareness and supporting providers of care to prioritise people with a learning disability on their elective waiting lists. To support these plans, work across the system has begun to target recruitment of nurses for people with learning disabilities and increase placement capacity for students. At the same time, work on training and awareness-raising for frontline colleagues to improve how they support people with a learning disability and/or autism is underway. Discussions about the Learning Disability Challenge will continue at System Leadership Executive level shortly.
Another significant project for the Programme this year is the proposals for community mental health transformation. Significant work is proceeding across our local places (Bradford district and Craven; Calderdale, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield) to recruit to roles and tackle issues on information governance, workforce planning and a common outcome framework.
The whole Programme has been involved in workshops to develop a new way of working in the context of the proposed changes to status for our integrated care system and the development of Integrated Care Partnerships within each of our local places.
Here to HELP volunteers have supported the people of Harrogate and Ripon on nearly 6,500 occasions, helping the local community stay safe and well during the COVID-19 crisis
Nicky Woolfenden is a volunteer with Ripon Here to HELP team and has been involved as a befriender, shopping and prescription pick-ups and is now a marshal at both the Harrogate and Ripon vaccination centres:
"Like so many others, I had a feeling of helplessness as the Coronavirus crisis unfolded but I knew that the HELP/HADCA team was based locally at Community House in Ripon and so signing up to volunteer with them felt like a practical thing to do. Activities I have undertaken so far include food shopping, medication deliveries and telephone befriending. Getting to know people during these testing times has been a pleasure and I feel certain that these newly formed friendships will continue long after the threat from the crisis has receded."
Andy Houston joined the HELP team in early January 2021 and has already taken 14 people for their vaccinations at the Yorkshire Showground:
"On the first day of the second lockdown, and I realised that I couldn't continue working as a Driving Instructor, I decided to call round to the offices of HELP to see if they wanted any volunteers. The offices were closed, but I saw a lady trying to push one of their vans from behind the building. Having established that she did indeed work for HELP, and I wasn't assisting the theft of a motor vehicle, together we manoeuvred the broken down van out the carpark, so the second working van could get out."
Nadine Bleasby is one of the Here to HELP volunteers in Harrogate who has been carrying out practical tasks for people since the start of the pandemic:
"When lockdown began it felt important to be able to do something, however small, to support my local community. It was the first time I'd done something like this, but I figured I could easily manage a couple of extra supermarket trips a week to help out people currently not able to do so and I think I've taken in all of Harrogate's supermarkets over the last nine months! I've met some lovely people, some on an ad-hoc basis, and others I've got to know a little better as I've shopped more regularly for them. It's not really about the shopping though, it's about human contact and taking the time for a conversation and seeing how people are coping. That has been the unexpected but heart-warming element, simply having a chat.”
Rebecca Maxwell, 22, joined the Here to HELP team in January and volunteers her time to support people in Harrogate:
"I take on weekly shopping tasks and prescription pick-ups for people who are shielding or self-isolating. This involves phoning up clients that are shielding and chatting with them about what shopping they would like, or collecting the list from them and delivering it to their homes. I have also got involved with the marshalling at the Harrogate vaccination centre at the Yorkshire Showground."
Update on Partnership’s Tackling Health Inequalities for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Communities and Colleagues Review
Over the past week, two network sessions have taken place around Influence and Measure and Impact. These groups have a pivotal role in the Partnership, particularly in light of the Partnership’s Review. Both groups act as critical points of challenge, support and direction for our work. Discussion in the Influence group concentrated largely on the wealth of resources that we have gathered, and the pressing need to ensure that this insight influences staff networks and enables progress at pace throughout the Partnership.
The focus of the Measure and Impact group was on how we best make use of the data on inequalities – with an agreement to begin using this to facilitate constructive dialogue to support the review recommendations. As ever, members of the Partnership are aware of the urgency of the task at hand. These groups help to progress the work at pace and recognise that more needs to, and will be done.
Digital Technology Assessment Criteria
If you’re trialling, procuring or promoting new digital health technology – including apps – within your organisation, you will first need to make sure it passes the Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC), the new national standard. NHSX has launched the DTAC to help give staff, patients and the public confidence that the digital health tools they use meet clinical safety, data protection, cyber security, and accessibility requirements. Find out more and download the DTAC question set, and sign up for an upcoming online information session.
International Women’s Day #CourageousCoffee
#CourageousCoffee is a way for women to connect, learn, build networks and support each other to thrive. By joining up you will be randomly selected to connect with up to three different women and invited to self-organise a 30-minute call to connect, learn more about each other and consider your everyday courage.
Once registered, the hope is that you will have these three conversations, with three women, over the next three months. The aim is to help you build your network and develop relationships wider than your immediate teams. For more information and to register see the International Women’s Day 2021 pages on the NHS Our People website.
The Directors of Public Health in West Yorkshire are urging people not to be put off from having the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, which they say is not only safe but playing an important role in saving lives
Some European countries have paused the use of the vaccine as a precautionary measure, following reports of blood clots in a small number of people who had recently had the vaccine. However, the five directors of public health have joined together to reassure people about the vaccine’s safety and have issued the following statement: 'We are really disappointed that a number of countries have temporarily paused the use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine against the advice of the World Health Organisation and the European Medicines Agency. There is no evidence that the vaccine can cause blood clots. There have been 37 reports of blood clots following over 17 million doses of the vaccine being given, which is actually fewer than you would expect to see just by chance in this number of people. As the UK regulator has said, the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine is an excellent vaccine and is helping us to fight back against Covid-19. It is safe and effective and we would strongly urge people to have the vaccine when they are offered it. Getting vaccinated is our best hope for returning to normal life and protecting ourselves and our loved ones against this awful virus." The UK regulator confirmed on Thursday that people should continue to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine.
COVID-19 vaccination clinic for people with learning disabilities
Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust and Calderdale and Kirklees Community Learning Disability Teams have worked really hard over the last two weeks preparing for a clinic for people who have complex learning disabilities from across the area. Led by Amanda McKie, Matron for complex needs, colleagues managed to successfully vaccinate 30 people during the day. Well done to all involved.
Feedback included:
‘A lot of thought had been put into the clinic; it was a safe, calm and welcoming environment that addressed the needs of a diverse group of people. The organisers obviously had a thorough understanding of those with additional needs and catered for them fantastically. A true example of good practice, well done’.
Award winners
Congratulations to all our colleagues and teams across West Yorkshire and Harrogate who were nominated or won a Health Service Journal Award on Wednesday. Huge well done to everyone across the Partnership for being recognised for the System Leadership Initiative of the Year for our Race Inequality Network, and also to everyone highly commended for the Workforce Initiative of the Year for the Working Carers Passport. And not forgetting our CEO Lead Rob Webster, winner of CEO of the year for South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust and Leeds Community Healthcare Trust for winning ‘Freedom to Speak up Organisation of the Year for creating a culture of speaking, listening and following up. Rob is also the first mental health trust chief executive to secure the number one spot in HSJ’s Top 50 chief executives list, announced on Thursday. Other chief executives on the top list include Julian Hartley, CEO for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Dr Owen Williams, CEO for Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust.
Future working arrangements
NHS Wakefield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Wakefield Council are to trial innovative future working arrangements, building on their close collaboration, with the creation of a joint role working across the CCG and Council to lead on improving population health and planning all health and care services for the district.
The new joint role will incorporate the role of the Council’s Corporate Director for Adults and Health, along with Wakefield CCG’s Chief Officer role. Jo Webster, who is currently Chief Officer of NHS Wakefield CCG, will take on the role for an initial trial period of 12 months from 1 April 2021.
Jo Webster said:
“The arrangements support the direction of travel set out in the NHS White Paper and the intent that CCG functions and staff will transfer to the new Integrated Care System from 1 April 2022 with most planning and delivery of care strongly rooted in the local 'places.
This is a really exciting opportunity for us to build upon the collaborative work we have been doing for many years to focus on addressing the causes of ill-health in our population and to ensure that, when people need care, it is it is delivered at the right time, in the right place by the right professionals working together.
I feel very proud and fortunate to work in a system with health and care leaders who are ambitious and forward thinking and with a local authority that has such a strong focus on health and well-being.”