Hello my name is Richard…
So, let me start by congratulating colleagues on the success of our collective work in joining the Integrated Care System programme, putting the area at the forefront of nationwide action to provide better co-ordinated and more joined up care for 2.6 million people. You can read more here.
It's really good to be part of #TeamWYH and it genuinely feels like a very different way of doing business between the public, the NHS, community organisations and local government. We are only at the start of what we want to acheive together and it's a good place at which to make that start. If you read our ‘Next Steps to Better Health and Care for Everyone’ you can see examples of the progress we are already making.
When it comes to North Yorkshire, STPs (as they were formerly known) are a bit like the Shredded Wheat Challenge: we have three! That reality (and yes, we would like fewer) reflects the size and diversity of our County and where people have traditionally used their local hospitals. Some would argue that it is a planning blueprint for the future, built on a health map of the past. For me, it makes West Yorkshire and Harrogate a microcosm of England itself - from the most urban neighbourhoods to the most remote, rural communities.
On occasions, we are literally at the end of the line - an opportunity to plug the work of the Leeds, Lancaster and Morecambe Community Railway Partnership to make one of our most remote railways dementia-friendly.
Our part of West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership pushes the physical and metaphorical boundaries. Two-tier local government means health scrutiny, public health, adult social care and children’s services sit with the County Council; housing is led by our colleagues in Craven District and Harrogate Borough Councils; we all importantly play a role in supported housing and extra care and likewise in community capacity-building and preventing ill health. We are all part of economic partnerships in both West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. Our media comes from Leeds, Newcastle (and on the edges of Craven, from Manchester). What, from a distance, looks organisationally more straightforward in West Yorkshire, shapes up very differently in North Yorkshire.
And yet, in some ways we are similar. When I lived in Sheffield, public health colleagues used to talk about the decade-wide gap in life expectancy along the route of the No 83 bus. I now live in Harrogate and whilst the gap in life expectancy isn’t quite that stark, for many people the everyday is not all about Betty’s and Bang and Olufsen. My 10 minute walk from home into town takes me past £1m townhouses, bed-sits, the homeless hostel, the Conservative Club and people sleeping rough.
That’s why knowing our communities and connecting people within them, is so very important. And why as public servants, a key test must always be “is this good enough for me and my family?”
Partly that connection is about two issues that the North Yorkshire Health and Wellbeing Board is championing this year, with major contributions from colleagues in Craven and Harrogate; the potential for digital to change the health and social care story and thereby to transform lives, choice and control – often using the technology that many of us are already using at home. And the need to make a step-change in mental wellbeing and in the mental health services we provide.
Underlying both is a more concerted approach to preventing ill health.
At a time when many councils have been cutting prevention spend; North Yorkshire has consciously increased its investment. We have protected voluntary sector budgets, although targeting them more to areas of greatest need. We continue to develop extra care housing (which helps people to live independently in their own home with support at hand should they need it), with 22 well-designed, community-located, schemes already; a dozen more in the pipeline; and some providing more locally accessible alternatives for NHS intermediate and end of life care. Social care mental health spend has been protected - and we have invested in additional specialist practitioners. £2m of Public Health Grant now funds the Stronger Communities programme which supports community infrastructure and self-help; for example practical, everyday stuff like ‘Men in Sheds’ groups, lunches and arts programmes.
Alongside that, our ‘Living Well’ service provides bespoke casework to people for up to 12 weeks, with the emphasis on building confidence, re-connecting people to their communities and fulfilling the Care Act imperatives to ‘prevent, reduce and delay’ the need for long term care. So far, the results have been impressive, with 92% of people agreeing that this support has been successful and 88% not requiring further help.
These stats are very encouraging. However, even more powerful are personal stories. I went along recently to my local GP practice, to talk with Reg, who says his life has been saved by ‘Living Well’. Nothing more to be said – this says it all.
You can watch this film here where Reg tells Poppy about this personal experience of “Living Well”. Definitely worth a view.
For all the grand plans and big visions, it’s the small steps, the local connections, and the human scale, which often makes the biggest difference.
Finally don’t forget to follow us on Twitter: @northyorkscc @nyorkshealth @richardwebbny
Have a good weekend
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What else has been happening this week?
Carers Week
It’s Carers Week this week and the theme this year is ‘Supporting Carers to be Healthy and Connected’. People up and down the country have been organising events to raise awareness for Carers Week 2018. You can find out more here.
There are an estimated 260,000 unpaid carers living in WY&H, including children and young people caring for parents with long-term health conditions. Many carers are ‘hidden’ i.e. providing the majority of care without formal support. Supporting carers well so they have good health and wellbeing is a priority for our partnership, and plans are underway to develop both regional and local policies to support them further. West Yorkshire and Harrogate has also been identified as one of six regions to work in partnership with NHS England to develop an approach to better support unpaid carers.
You don’t need to look far to see great work taking place across our six local places [Bradford District and Craven; Calderdale, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds, Wakefield] to support unpaid carers.
Fatima Khan Shah, our Partnership Programme Lead for Carers said “Carers often tell me one of their biggest sources of stress is a lack of joined up care and support. This is an important area I am trying to address alongside my colleagues [including those working in the community] as part of my role for West Yorkshire and Harrogate.
Our focus is on:
- Make sure all acute trusts in West Yorkshire and Harrogate support carers in the same way and value their contribution.
- Support working carers to maintain their health and wellbeing and remain in work to progress their careers.
- Work with young carers to encourage and support their career aspirations in health and social care.
- Make sure there are processes in place to identify carers as early as possible in primary care and signpost to local organisation for information and advice”.
Watch this film from Fatima where she talks about the importance of supporting carers, including young people who care for their parents and siblings. You can also read this blog which was published last week by the Department of Health and Social Care when they launched the Carers Action Plan and read West Yorkshire and Harrogate action plan here
Cancer Alliance
A £150k scheme to support the early diagnosis of suspected cancers through the development of specialist diagnostic staff and improved patient care has been launched this week by our Cancer Alliance, in partnership with Yorkshire Cancer Research.
Yorkshire Cancer Research, Yorkshire’s dedicated cancer charity, and the Alliance have joined forces on a bursary scheme for reporting radiographers and clinical endoscopists, either fully qualified or in training. The scheme will offer a total of 30 applicants – 15 in each staff group – up to a maximum of £5,000 each, to encourage excellence and innovation in diagnostic practice and promote earlier diagnosis. The earlier a cancer is diagnosed, the more likely it is to be curable. For those who do not have cancer, prompt investigation means they are taken off a cancer pathway, providing reassurance and avoiding unnecessary worry.
Successful applicants can use their individual bursaries to support education or ongoing professional development that will impact positively on the safety or quality of radiography or endoscopy services.
More experienced staff may also consider using the funding for service developments and improvements which champion the involvement of patients in service design, and the development of information resources that support awareness and decision-making for patients. Funding for the two-year scheme has been secured by the Alliance from the national cancer transformation fund.
More information is available here
Yorkshire and Humber bid to become a Local Health and Care Record Exemplar
The next step in the bid process will take place on Thursday 21 June 2018 when representatives of the bid team will attend the NHS England assessment panel.
What’s happening next week?
- The West Yorkshire and Harrogate Urgent and Emergency Care Programme Board meet on Monday. This is chaired by Dr Adam Sheppard.
- The Elective Care and Standardisation of Commissioning Policies Programme Meeting takes place on Tuesday. This is chaired by Matt Walsh, CEO for Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group and senior responsible officer for the programme.