Posted on: 12 January 2024
This week’s leadership message comes from Catherine Riley, Associate Director of Strategy at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT) and Liam Whitehead, Head of Widening Participation for the Trust.
Hello all.
As a Trust, our focus is to deliver high quality, compassionate care, where and when our patients need it. We work with our partners in the promotion of health and wellbeing and, as an anchor partner organisation, support training and career opportunities for local people. We recognise this is essential if we are to provide long-term solutions to the health inequalities that currently affect our communities.
Colleagues across the health and care system work incredibly hard in the face of extraordinary challenges to deliver compassionate and safe healthcare; we support their development, value their diversity, and ensure they are listened to and have a sense of belonging in our local places.
In 2023, we looked for an opportunity to test our approach as an anchor institution in our place, to make sure our patients, our workforce, the local population and our partners were benefiting from all we could do and to seek an independent view on what more we could be doing. So, we asked the Purpose Coalition to review our work in the context of the ‘levelling up’ agenda.
In its report, The Purpose Coalition measured Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT) progress against 14 goals. These goals were not about operational performance, but something that is much harder to quantify. It assessed our organisation against what we are doing for our patients and colleagues in affecting purpose-led change, and its broader impact on our communities.
The report concludes that CHFT recognises and fulfils its potential to play a central role in its communities, far beyond acting purely as a healthcare service. Amongst other things, it describes our work to support widening participation and social mobility, our focus on health and wellbeing and our ambition to close to the digital divide. The report also helpfully identifies recommendations in the areas of outreach, recruitment, career progression and local partnerships that the Trust continues to progress.
With this firmly in view, over the past year, our apprenticeships and widening participation team has created diverse entry pathways for local people to access employment opportunities at the Trust. This includes offering apprenticeships, volunteering, work experience, T Level pathways, and pre-employment routes such as St John’s Cadets, the Prince’s Trust, Sector Work Based Academy (SWAP), and other employability support activities. These initiatives have successfully recruited over 70 new colleagues in clinical and nonclinical areas.
The team has also integrated an adult skills training provider into CHFT, providing free Maths and English functional skills qualifications for personal development and internal progression.
The main objective is to "grow our own" workforce, particularly focusing on supporting underrepresented groups in our local communities. External partnerships and the removal of internal barriers have played a pivotal role in achieving this success.
Key goals include becoming the local apprenticeship "employer of choice," ensuring a representative staff base, promoting pre-employment pathways, and encouraging career progression through resources like the apprenticeship levy.
CHFT aims to leverage its employer status for economic and social recovery, with a focus on addressing barriers faced by underrepresented groups. Notably, 84% of widening participation progression into apprenticeships and 79% of candidates under 30 are from the three poorest areas locally.
Ongoing development work includes launching a pathway for those "new to care" in early 2024, aligning with CHFT’s "grow our own" strategy to address staffing supply issues in line with the NHS Long Term Workforce plan.
We are proud to work for a Trust that has been recognised for making such significant progress to broaden its impact with local communities which deliver genuine social value. As one of the largest employers in both our local places, we are very mindful of the impact the Trust has on our local communities. Our priorities of patients, community and wellbeing are crucial to our purpose, and a central theme of all our work.
Thank you for reading and have a good weekend all.
Catherine and Liam
What else has been happening this week?
Consultation on improving mental health care for older people
The local NHS has launched a consultation on improving mental health care for older people on inpatient wards across Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield.
The consultation asks people to share their views about creating specialist inpatient wards for older people with dementia, and dedicated wards for older people living with other mental health needs such as anxiety, depression or psychosis, which are known as ‘functional mental health needs’.
This consultation is important for people in Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield, in particular, people who are living with dementia, or a functional mental health need, their families, carers, loved ones and health and care staff.
Please share the details of this consultation with people in your organisation, patients, and members of the public you may work with. Posters, leaflets and a digital screen which you can use can be downloaded from the consultation website.
You can find out more about the consultation on the South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust website. This includes how to give your views using the online survey, information about drop-in events / online meetings and downloadable resources.
The consultation will be open for 12 weeks until 29 March 2024. Once the consultation closes all the feedback received will help the local NHS make an informed decision.
Information regarding Friarwood Birth Centre, Pontefract Hospital
Wakefield District Health and Care Partnership Committee and the Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust have taken the decision to not reinstate the facility to give birth at the Friarwood Birth Centre at Pontefract Hospital. Further information and the background to the decision can be found on the Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust website.
Norovirus cases are rising
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) are reminding people that if they have been sick with vomiting and diarrhoea, they should avoid visiting hospitals and care homes, and not return to work or school, until 48 hours after symptoms have stopped.
Hand gels do not kill norovirus, so handwashing with soap and warm water is best. Using bleach-based products to clean surfaces will also help stop the virus from spreading.
Meet the virtual ward team in Bradford District and Craven
Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership has produced a video giving an overview of their virtual ward service and showcasing the dedicated team made up of nurses, doctors, physiotherapists and more, providing wraparound care and support to local residents in their homes.
Learning Disabilities Challenge - Reasonable adjustments campaign
The development of the Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag on the NHS spine holds huge potential for improving health outcomes and potentially saving lives. Following publication of an Information Standard Notice earlier this year, organisations are preparing for implementation by 31 March 2024.
More information about reasonable adjustments together with some resources to support people who work with and care for people with learning disabilities, is available on the Partnership website.
With acknowledgements to our colleagues at North East and Cumbria Learning Disabilities Network.
Improving Population Health Fellowship class of 2024
Our Improving Population Health Fellowship class of 2024 officially closed to applications on 8 January. However, you might still be able to apply if you didn’t manage to get in your application on time.
Everything you need to know, including a statement of interest form and contacts for each fellowship area is available on our Improving Population Health Fellowship pages.
CrISSP demonstration
As part of the Critical Incident Staff Support Pathway (crISSP), the West Yorkshire Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub offers training, consultation and supervision in all areas to support volunteers and staff around potentially traumatic and emotionally challenges events. One short intervention is the defuse. Please take a look at the video. If you would like to know more about receiving free training for yourself and your team, please contact the Hub at wyicb-bdc.wyh.mentalwellbeinghub@nhs.net.
Quit smoking this January
We are supporting the national UKHSA stop smoking campaign. When you quit smoking, good things start to happen — you can begin to see almost immediate improvements to your health. It's much easier to quit when you get the right support and there are lots of options to choose from. Check out our free tools and tips to help you stay on track.
For tips and support see the Better Health quit smoking pages. Free resources are also available to download on the Campaign Resource Centre.
See our news pages to find out why senior leaders are united in backing government proposals to create a smokefree generation.
Cost of living support
Need a bit of extra support? We have a ‘making your money’ booklet full of tips on saving money around the home and signposting to other useful services. Find out more on the Partnership website.
Inequalities Action: Abbie’s story
Our workforce stories highlight the people working in Bradford District and Craven to reduce inequalities. This is Abbie’s story, a programme manager and midwife, working to improve the experiences of women and families in Bradford District and Craven during pregnancy and early parenthood. Learn more about what we’re doing to reducing inequalities on the Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership website.