Posted on: 8 April 2022
Hello, my name is Helen
Pasties and people
After the challenges of the last two years, and what feels an endless stream of worrying and utterly shattering news from home and abroad, it was fantastic to be out in the sunshine last weekend experiencing spring – a time for change, growth, and hope.
It’s such an obvious comparison to the current changes to our health system that it seems like a corny analogy, but all that is great about this season is so clearly reflected in the planning and delivery of the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership that it was a comparison I couldn’t ignore.
I write this blog in the dual role that so many of us are juggling now - as a leader in my local place and within the wider West Yorkshire Partnership.
I know that colleagues across the system are working tirelessly to ensure smooth transition considering new legislation (subject to parliament approval), and whilst there have undoubtedly been moments (!) of frustration and concern, and a lot of exhausted people, I sense a real feeling of being ‘nearly there’ now. That processes are in place, and we are getting ready to go.
Whilst the destination has always been within focus, I believe the journey has been vital and one to be incredibly proud of.
As a place leader in Bradford District, I have been involved in full, frank, and transparent discussions regarding new Boards, forum, and the challenges these face in continuing to make, support and offer professional curiosity regarding critical decisions.
As part of a devolved Healthwatch leadership structure across the system I know that similar challenges have been faced to adapt existing partnership structures to meet the new legislative requirements.
Although decisions and conversations have not always been easy, in all my experiences the spirit of assuming good intent and shared common goals to ‘Act as One’ have prevailed.
Change can be hard; it can hurt, and it can damage. It can also present opportunities for growth and improvement and for new voices to be heard. I’m so pleased to say that my experiences within place and the West Yorkshire Partnership have seen relationships strengthened and working relationships cemented, even though we have sometimes shuffled for position and to be heard. We have done this by remaining focused on those shared goals and putting organisational bias aside.
Undoubtedly the foundations created in the existing partnership have been essential as a solid launch pad for embedding what we have already been doing well. Taking this opportunity for organisational reflection and improving where it was needed has been refreshing and demonstrated a flexibility and willingness for change that I hope will stand our partnerships in good stead as the operational challenges hit.
As ever these achievements come down to people. Working with good people, leading good people, recruiting good people, mentoring good people, and waking up every day determined to be one.
At Healthwatch we are privileged to be the voice of ‘our’ people.
Those people who use the health and care systems share their experiences with us daily, they tell us their stories, they recommend changes and air their frustrations.
The West Yorkshire Partnership is these people. Those we plan services for to treat, support and heal. Those it is often too easy to view per capita in financial terms as a faceless service user / patient.
Healthwatch will always strive to tell these stories and keep patient experience front and centre wherever it can. In those often-dry meetings about budgets and governance and systems and strategies I have seen the power of bringing the conversation back to people.
Here in Bradford District, we often refer to the ‘Greggs Test’ (copyright the wonderful Vicki Beere @ Project 6).
- Would the person behind us in the queue at Greggs understand what we are trying to achieve?
- What impact would what we are doing have on the person in the queue behind us in Greggs?
In creating and co-ordinating a new Citizen’s Panel (it may not be called that) across the Partnership, Healthwatch will provide a range of voices representing geographical communities, communities of interest and the seldom heard, or as I prefer, the easy to ignore. This will include building on the excellent work already in place by so many and scoping the added value that this will bring to our five local places (Bradford District and Craven; Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, and Wakefield) and the West Yorkshire programmes, as well as the Partnership Board and new integrated care board.
Ex-offenders who will share their experience of accessing health and care services after a long period of incarceration; asylum seekers who have no experience or knowledge of preventative medicine; cancer patients who struggle with public transport links for appointments. These are the stories that we are keen to hear, share and use to bring those meetings to life and the focus remaining on people.
And the Greggs test. Try it, it works. But it doesn’t half make you hungry.
Have a good weekend
Helen
Celebrating The Fellowship
As we celebrate the amazing talent and achievement of our Partnership colleagues who took part in the Fellowship programme we continue to look back on their careers over the past twelve months and share their personal experiences.
This week we have a blog by Awais Habib, a "proud, inspired and determined alumnus" having completed the programme.
Unlock your whole self
Hello, my name is Awais
I am a senior healthcare leader, with a passion for developing equitable services for all people. I am also Muslim, and a British Pakistani. My passion for improving health and care services stems from personal lived experiences growing up in Bradford. I witnessed first-hand the health and social care challenges faced by my parents, who were first generation migrants from Pakistan. These challenges were exacerbated by economic factors too. My aspiration to become an executive director was born from this lived experience and it instilled a desire in me to influence on behalf of others for a better future for all. Over the years, there have been many occasions where my aspirations and passion have dwindled due to lack of development and opportunity. More recently, however, they have been amplified and energised by the HSJ award winning senior fellowship programme.
How? Let me explain.
My upbringing, values, resilience, determination, and commitment have shaped my academic and professional success over the years. Yet, despite having a proven track record with over a decade of senior operational experience across two industries, I still found myself facing barriers when trying to advance my career and realise my ambitions of eventually becoming an executive leader in healthcare. These barriers have included limited opportunity for development and poorer experiences. The additional complexity of intersectionality factors has further impacted my development and opportunity to gain senior experience. At times this has meant, I could not bring my whole self to work and progress into senior roles.
Then came the watershed moment, the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership (WY HCP) launched the senior fellowship programme. Specifically designed to provide senior experience in system roles and entwined with fantastic modules such as political acumen, inclusive system leadership, career development and a shadow board experience. The programme was exactly what I needed to unlock my whole self as a leader. I could explore my authenticity, and use my skills and experience gained through lived and professional experiences, to bring my ambition into sight.
I applied, secured a place and fifteen months later, I am grateful to say that I am now a proud, inspired and determined alumnus having completed the programme.
What did I learn and experience?
The programme provided an environment in which I could be challenged, grow, and develop right from the outset. I felt empowered and confident to use my lived experience, values and perspectives in key placements and I aim to continue to do this in any future roles. I had the opportunity to meet numerous people and broaden my network across the West Yorkshire HCP. An important and strong network that grew from the programme was one among the fellows too. With talented people from across the system, we soon became a safe circle where we could support, challenge, coach and simply listen to one another.
I had very limited experience of a board setting at the start of the programme. The programme connected me with the Inspiring Leaders Network Shadow Board who provided fellows with both modular and experiential learning. Through this learning, I was able to shadow the Partnership Senior Leadership Executive Group. This experience was invaluable and has helped me secure board room skills, as I continue to aspire to becoming an executive director. Beyond this, to help with my personal development I was also assigned a senior coach and mentor from the wider system.
During one of my placements, I stepped into the role of strategic engagement lead for diabetes working across the Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership known as Act as One. I had the opportunity to develop a focused strategic engagement model with the Bangladeshi community in Keighley, West Yorkshire to ensure that the experience of people living with diabetes informed service redesign. The outcome of this work was remarkable, as we empowered people to develop a community led action plan working in affiliation with Diabetes UK and involving senior stakeholders from the health and care system. This was my opportunity to bring to surface some of the challenges faced by South Asian communities, tackle health inequalities and co-produce actions to make improvements.
During my second placement as the Acting Head of Care Coordination, I was responsible for shaping, leading, and establishing the Care Coordination Programme (CCP) as part of the Act as One Health and Care Partnership. This work was essential to support the partnerships ambition to help people live ‘Happy, Healthy at Home’ and address some of the impacts and challenges realised following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The aim of CCP was to bring together partners across health, care and support services including adult social care, mental health, and the voluntary community social enterprise sector. The programme provided a coordinated approach and made service navigation seamless for patients and staff. I led the development of a multidisciplinary method, promoting a pro-active and patient-centred focus. This was underpinned by collaboration principles, to ensure we have the right professional for the right person at the right time. I designed and established the programme governance and reported directly into the Community Partnership and Airedale Health and Care Partnership Board.
Beyond this, I had the opportunity to be involved with a task and finish group to develop and shape the Bradford Inequalities Alliance and act as the place-based lead for personalised care at West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership led meetings.
Throughout the fellowship placements, I have led discussions across the health and care system involving stakeholders from primary care networks, acute providers, community trusts and voluntary, community and social enterprises organisations. The breadth of experience has been invaluable and improved my knowledge and understanding of transformation initiatives in the health and care system. It has also increased my awareness of health inequalities and the positive impact partnership working can have on reducing these and improving population health.
What next?
Having come to the end of the programme, I am delighted to say that I have now secured a permanent post as the Divisional Operations Director at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust. My journey to this point has been challenging, yet it has also been fulfilling. It has provided me with the opportunity for growth and that has shaped the leader I am today. Fundamentally, I strongly believe that determination and perseverance is vital, and you need to keep moving forward as “Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence. Ovid”
The fellowship programme has been a vital in providing the stepping-stone for me to move closer to my ambition of becoming an executive director. The learning has been exceptional, and I can guarantee you will not feel the same after the programme. So, if you are ambitious and need the stretch and challenge to progress, fill out your application here! Let the programme help you Unlock Your Whole Self. As the famous Persian poet Rumi writes “There is a morning inside you waiting to burst open into light”.
Thank you for reading,
Awais
What else has been happening this week?
Suicide prevention
The Partnership’s Suicide Prevention Oversight Group has funded a two-year Suicide Prevention Analyst and Coordinator in West Yorkshire Police. This role will help to see Improvement in real time insight into suicide in our communities for all our five local places, whilst linking to recently bereaved family members, friends, colleague, and employers to the suicide bereavement service. It will also provide the opportunity to do focused work in neighbourhoods/communities to prevent suicide and improve mental health.
Leeds Mind have also been commissioned to deliver a two-year Suicide Prevention Coproduction contract to support the work of our Partnership.
Children, Young People and Families Programme
A full time Associate Director for the Programme has been appointed. Sayma Mirza who currently works in the Partnership as Assistant Director for System Leadership and Development will be taking up her new role for the Children Young People and Families Programme in May.
The Children and Young People and Families Programme Board met on the 30 March and are reviewing existing ways of working to support strategic alignment across the Partnership and delivery against the national requirements for children, young people, and families.
Our West Yorkshire Youth Collective have produced an annual report setting out how they have worked with and supported the Partnership over the last year. Examples of work has included the co-design of our ‘Looking Out for Each Other’ campaign, planning and facilitating the Young Carers App launch, sharing the impact of climate change on the emotional wellbeing of young people, and providing a letter of recommendations on long-COVID to local and national leaders. Our West Yorkshire Youth Collective Voice feel listened to and valued by the Partnership.
Other work includes the commencement of trauma informed training with police, housing colleagues and primary care as part of the Partnership’s Adversity, Trauma and Resilience work; the continued development of the West Yorkshire complications relating to excess weight in children clinic which will be hosted by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; a successful bid to implement vCreate (secure video sharing platform) for epilepsy across each of our hospital trusts; progressing implementation of the asthma care bundle; continuing to share best practice on improving urgent and emergency care for children and young people; supporting workforce development in acute and community settings; and the ongoing development of a new Healthier Together website.
Area Partnership Group (unions)
The West Yorkshire Area Partnership Group (unions) meet with Partnership colleagues today (Friday). They will receive an update on health and care legislation developments, and staff communication campaigns.
Newly qualified Band 5 midwives
Pre-application events have taken place at all Trusts and the job advertisement for newly qualified Band 5 midwives will be available on NHS jobs from 8 April. The interviews will take place over a three week period commencing 9 May. This will be the second year of a centralised recruitment process for newly qualified midwives for the partnership following a successful launch last year. In October and November 2021 over 100 newly qualified midwives began their midwifery careers in one of the six organisations across the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Local Maternity System.
