Today’s leadership message is from Adam Cole and Carol Gilchrist

Posted on: 15 May 2026

Today’s leadership message is from Adam Cole, Associate Director of Partnerships and Transformation, and Carol Gilchrist, Deputy CEO and Director of Operations at Local Care Direct.

Adam and Carol

Working together to improve urgent care for children across West Yorkshire

One of the real strengths of working across the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership is the ability to come together around a shared goal: improving care for the people and communities we serve.

That spirit of collaboration has been central to the development of our West Yorkshire-wide Paediatric Clinical Assessment Service (PCAS). Over the past seven months, colleagues from across the system have been working in partnership with Local Care Direct (LCD) to design and shape a service that helps children and young people access the right care, in the right place and at the right time. West Yorkshire is one of only four national pilot sites selected to test these regional models.

We know that when families seek urgent advice for a child, they want reassurance quickly, and confidence that they are in the right place. We also know that many from our communities, particularly our most deprived communities, suffer from inequalities of access. Our aim for the PCAS project has been to make that journey clearer and more joined-up through a West Yorkshire single point of access (SPOA), using LCD’s existing care co-ordination infrastructure to help ensure children are directed to the most appropriate care first time.

Built through partnership

This work has only been possible because of collaboration across organisations in our system. Colleagues from primary care, urgent care services, the West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts (WYAAT), the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership and the NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board have all played a part in shaping the approach. Through this partnership working we were able to go live with the service in just three months.

The conversations that shaped the service have been grounded in the day-to-day reality of caring for children across our services. They have been open, practical and focused on what works best for patients, rather than organisational boundaries.

Using population health data and the experience of clinicians across the system, we have been able to develop a new approach by integrating and co-ordinating existing services and pathways through a single central point. This was particularly important as the pilot has been developed without additional delivery funding, requiring us to work creatively with the services and capacity that already exist across West Yorkshire.

Clinicians and operational teams have shared their experience, reviewed how pathways currently operate and identified where we could make improvements together.

A key part of this has been strengthening links with primary care services that already support children with urgent health needs. Many childhood illnesses can be safely managed in primary care settings, and by working more closely with these services we have been able to provide clearer routes into services. This helps ensure children are seen by clinicians with the right expertise, while keeping emergency departments available for those who need them most.

Designed for West Yorkshire

While national guidance and previous pilots have helped shape the direction of travel, we have also been clear that the service needs to work for our local system.

That has meant taking time to understand our data, looking at where children currently access care and learning from the experience of clinicians across our services. Through this work we have been able to refine clinical pathways so that the model is GP-led, rather than consultant-led as seen in earlier national pilots.

This approach has still allowed us to support the vast majority of patients without the need for face-to-face attendance in urgent care or emergency departments when appropriate alternatives are available.

We have also expanded the range of referral codes into the service, meaning we have been able to take more than 7,800 referrals through PCAS during the first twelve weeks of operation. Over 88% of these have been resolved with LCD assessment and all patients are seen within existing services across the system.

Across PCAS, 64% of patients are from the bottom five deciles and this rises to 76% for Bradford which is our area with the most usage.

This data-led approach reflects the wider ambition across our partnership to use clinical insight, collaboration and system thinking to design services around the needs of our communities and it’s something that deserves celebrating.

What this reminds us about working together

Developing PCAS as a collective has been a powerful reminder that meaningful change in healthcare rarely happens in isolation and happens when organisations across primary care, acute services and system leadership come together, share their knowledge and stay focused on what matters most to patients.

Across West Yorkshire we are fortunate to have strong relationships between our organisations, and that has made it possible to approach this work as a shared endeavour rather than a single service change.

By continuing to work together across our partnership we can keep refining how urgent care works for children and families and look how this approach can be refined in other patient groups like for those with frailty. Often it is not individual pathways that need redesigning, but the way they connect with one another.

At its heart, this work has been about something simple but important: working together to ensure our services are designed truly around patients rather than organisations and delivered in a way that makes care easier to access when patients need it the most.

Thank you for reading,
Adam and Carol

Mental Health Awareness Week – how aware are you of the help available?

Emma Pearce - Mental Health Awareness Week 2026

Hello, my name is Dr Emma Pearce.

This Mental Health Awareness Week (11 to 17 May) we’re asking people to join us in taking action to support good mental health. Even small actions can help us feel hopeful and less powerless. And while our individual actions matter, when we come together, we are even more powerful.

We all have mental health; sometimes it’s good, sometimes less so. As a consultant in public health for the mental health team, it is important to me that we view mental health as a public health issue, understanding how mental health and emotional wellbeing are inextricable from our physical health. We explored this theme and more in a recent webinar which was part of a series in our Integrated Neighbourhood Health programme.

There are many things that can negatively affect our mental health and wellbeing, including the stigma of being unwell. As a health and care system, we can provide help when and where it is needed most. Help ranges from prevention and early intervention to crisis support, such as our new mental health crisis text service, and is provided by skilled professionals and people who know what it feels like to experience emotional distress and poor mental health. This service offers easy access support for people in crisis who feel unable to talk, especially younger, neurodivergent people, and is responding directly to feedback we received via Healthwatch. This service could also help parents who need support, even at 2.00am, when caring for you and a new baby often feels hardest. With maternal mental health issues now the leading cause of postnatal mortality and new dads struggling too, we need to rally around families more than ever.

By phone ‘NHS 111, press option 2 for mental health’ is available 24/7 (with specific help for those with access needs). Additionally, our VCSE colleagues provide support that caters to diverse and localised needs and focuses on building social connection to prevent poor mental health as well as responding to crisis (e.g. Here for You Crisis cafes, Deaf Connect, Men’s Walk and Talk, Support2Recovery, BeingYou Leeds). Our local authority partners provide a comprehensive suicide prevention and postvention offer for those in whom the crisis is potentially life-threatening. And GPs are highly skilled in responding holistically at times of crisis or can refer you to other specialist services.

One of the most simple and effective things anyone can do to improve their mental health is talk. The old adage ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’ really does ring true. Prioritising human connection is becoming ever more important in a digitised world: put down your screens, step away from AI and reach out to someone. They may be a familiar face, brand new, or someone with additional skills in mental health and wellbeing support, but nothing beats a good natter and a cup of Yorkshire tea*! Now, I’m off to phone a friend…

*Other brands are available!

What's been happening?

Local NHS leaders recognised

Foluke and Peter

Congratulations to Foluke Ajayi (Chief Executive, Airedale NHS Foundation Trust and place lead for the Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership) and Peter Reading (Chief Executive, Yorkshire Ambulance Service Trust) who have been recognised in the HSJ’s Top 50 Chief Executives, which recognises England’s top leaders of NHS trusts.

National recognition for West Yorkshire Partnership project

Student Nursing Times award winners 2026

The West Yorkshire Student Supported Services model has been awarded Partnership of the Year at the Student Nursing Times Awards. This national award recognises outstanding collaboration across organisations to improve practice learning, workforce development and patient care.

Developed by NHS West Yorkshire ICB, the University of Bradford and partners across the West Yorkshire health and care system, the Student Supported Services model creates high quality, clinically-governed placement opportunities by enabling students to work in small, supervised groups within real service environments. The approach strengthens learning, supports clinical teams and helps ensure local communities receive timely, safe and effective care.

The success of the model reflects the strength of partnership working across West Yorkshire – sharing good practice, ensuring robust clinical governance and supporting high quality learning environments for our future workforce.

The award was collected on behalf of the partnership by Vikki Carter (University of Bradford) and Laura Singleton (NHS West Yorkshire ICB) who have both played key roles in developing and shaping the model across the system.

Bradford pharmacist up for national award

Philip Moore (pharmacist)

A senior pharmacist at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is up for a national award.

Philip Moore, Assistant Director of Pharmacy for Clinical Services, has been nominated for an ‘Unsung Hero’ Award at the Clinical Pharmacy Congress, the UK’s largest event for clinical pharmacy professionals in the country. Find out more on the trust website.

Airedale bereavement team celebrated at the Mariposa awards

Airedale bereavement team at the Mariposa awards

The bereavement team at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust were proud to attend the Mariposa Ball and awards in April, held in London, where excellence in compassionate care following baby loss was recognised and celebrated.

The Mariposa Awards, organised by Mariposa International Charity, honour individuals and teams who go above and beyond to provide sensitive, empathetic support to families experiencing baby loss.

Experiencing baby loss is one of the hardest journeys a person can go through. In those moments of grief, the kindness, compassion and support of healthcare professionals can make a profound difference. The Mariposa Awards shine a light on those whose dedication ensures care is delivered with dignity, empathy and humanity. Find out more on the trust website.

Airedale cancer team launches radiotherapy website

The cancer team at Airedale Hospital have launched a new website for patients who are going for radiotherapy, to help them prepare for and understand their treatment.

This builds on the success from last year when they created a site for immunotherapy – and is designed to give patients and their families all the information in one easy to access place. Find out more on the trust website.

Bradford Teaching Hospitals to take part in trailblazing AI project which detects skin cancer earlier

Skin cancer detecting

Bradford Teaching Hospitals is the first NHS trust in West Yorkshire to use trailblazing artificial intelligence (AI) which aims to detect skin cancer earlier.

The new approach started at St Luke’s Hospital, part of the foundation trust, in April and sees healthcare staff using AI software to rapidly analyse skin lesions and flag small moles that are most likely to be cancerous, with far greater precision than standard techniques.

The DERM (Deep Ensemble for Recognition of Malignancy) technology, developed by Skin Analytics, analyses images to assess and triage skin lesions, redirecting benign cases to non-urgent pathways and significantly reducing waiting times by efficiently triaging patients with suspicious skin lesions. Find out more on the trust website.

Two-million-pound investment to boost research at Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust

Artist's plan of the propoesed new modular clinical research facility at Pinderfields Hospital

Patients who are recruited to clinical studies are set to benefit from increased access to cutting-edge clinical research. The funds are made up of £1.5 million capital award from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and other partners including the MY Hospitals Charity and Wakefield Oncology Leukaemia Fund (WOLF) have contributed £496,500 of funding to the project.

The main bulk of the funding, awarded through the NIHR Capital Investment Programme 2025, will support the development of a new modular clinical research facility at Pinderfields Hospital. The expansion will enhance the trust’s existing Clinical Research and Innovation Building (CRIB), creating modern, purpose-built space to deliver a wider range of studies, including complex and commercial trials - a further milestone in the hospital's development as a teaching trust. Find out more on the trust website.

First prostate cancer biopsy procedures take place at MY Surgical Hub in Dewsbury

Biopsy team at the Mid Yorks surgical hub

The first diagnostic procedures to detect prostate cancer have taken place at MY Surgical Hub at Dewsbury and District Hospital.

The number of specialist surgical procedures taking place at the Dewsbury surgical hub is expanding quickly, and patients can now have this same day medical procedure to diagnose if they have prostate cancer.

The first surgical list was led by Mr Philip James, Consultant Urological Surgeon, and supported by a team of nurses and theatre staff. Find out more on the trust website.

Workplace health checks in Wakefield help people stay well and stay in work

Healthy Working Life graphic

A new workplace health initiative in Wakefield is helping people spot serious health risks early - without needing to visit a GP surgery.

The roving workplace health checks, delivered by Conexus Healthcare and Wakefield Council as part of Healthy Working Life, take NHS services directly into local businesses. The aim is to make it easier for people to look after their health while staying in work. Long hours, shift work and job insecurity can make it harder to attend routine health appointments. This project removes those barriers by bringing checks into the working day.

Over three months, the project delivered around 400 health checks across a wide range of workplaces - from manual jobs to office settings. Many of the people seen said they would not have booked a GP appointment, even if invited.

Rod, who works in maintenance at Nostell Estate, booked a health check because it was convenient. He had not seen a doctor in years. Like many, he found it hard to step away from work and assumed he was fit and well. During his check, colleagues found Rod’s blood pressure was dangerously high. Rod has since started treatment and is having further tests. Without this workplace check, Rod may not have known until it was too late.

Find out more about Rod’s story and hear from other people who have also benefited on our Healthy Working Life case study pages.

Healthy Working Life is a joint programme from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board.