Posted on: 12 March 2021
Hello my name is Jo
What a difference a year has made to all our lives, in and outside of work.
At the start of the year infection rates, hospitalisations and deaths were rising fast. The vaccine programme was just in its very early stages. Now, the numbers show that infections and deaths are falling; there are fewer people in hospital, and the number of people vaccinated continues to climb - thanks to the amazing efforts of all involved across our Partnership including our communities and hundreds of people, who have volunteered their time freely.
Thankfully, the number of people dying from the virus has been dropping and continues to do so – yet the impact on those who have lost loved ones, friends and colleagues will never be forgotten. We will live with our memories for generations to come. It will go down in history as a human catastrophe. What I also hope will be written in the history books is the strong sense of community togetherness, love, kindness and support we have seen throughout this period.
Since lockdown began on 23 March 2020, local authorities, NHS, Healthwatch, voluntary community and social enterprises (VCSE), and charities have come together as never before with a single purpose to keep the 2.7million people of West Yorkshire and Harrogate safe, well and restored to health as soon as possible.
Communities have sprung into action with neighbours connecting and looking out for each other and informal support groups in local areas coming together to support people in need. Many people have stepped forward as volunteers; in the community hubs, including the vaccine centres and for local groups and charities.
In the early days, I heard of care workers moving into their care settings to avoid transmitting the virus from the outside world, leaving their families for weeks at a time, to social workers, refuse collectors and voluntary and community sector workers who have taken time to check on people who are shielding in their communities – right through to teachers, the police, Yorkshire Ambulance and the fire service, to building maintenance workers and cleaners, IT, communication colleagues and finance staff – the list is endless. There continues to be uncountable acts of kindness and professionalism taking place every day in the places where we live and work. Even the smallest acts of compassion and kindness have had such a positive impact, many of which went unseen and unheard.
The work of scientists never fails to inspire me and the way they have come together globally and throughout our country to find a solution to our problems has been outstanding – without them we wouldn’t have a vaccine or hope for a brighter future.
This week saw the first step of the Government’s roadmap as all schools reopened. We know that the timing for each step will depend on a variety of data - including the success of the vaccine rollout and hospitalisation figures. Caution is key, as the Government says but I am hopeful that the future is bright and I am looking forward to the summer and like so many people, travel and holidays. As we move ahead together, there is much to look forward to as well as evolution (not revolution) for those working in the Partnership. In November the NHS England / NHS Improvement Board (NHSE/NHSI) set out the direction of travel for integrated care systems and proposed options for legislative change. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) published a White Paper on the 11 February 2021 ‘Integration and Innovation: working together to improve health and social care for all’, which sets out new proposals to bring health and care services closer together to improve care and tackle health inequalities. The White Paper covers a range of issues which will affect all of our work.
Our collective responses to the consultation set out what is important to us as Partnership. All of this is built on an understanding that our colleagues are our biggest asset and must be supported; that communities play a role in both their own health and the healthcare system; and that clinical leadership is crucial to future change.
As a clinical commissioning group accountable officer, this means lots of change. Yet, what comes with change is the opportunity to review the way we work and to further consider how better we can improve the lives of people we buy health services for, whether it is hospital care, community services or mental health support. Only by working together as a Partnership can we realise the full potential of all we serve and colleagues we work alongside. We have been working for some time now as clinical commissioning group accountable officers to develop our future approach to how we plan for our populations and reduce health inequalities through our Commissioning Futures Programme. The approach we developed fits well with the White Paper and sets out how commissioners and providers will work together in our places to plan and deliver services in partnership with an emphasis on whole population health outcomes, which is already happening in many of our places.
For example, partners came together in Wakefield to ensure that local people receive person-centred coordinated care, delivered at the right time, in the right place and by the right person. Our focus has always been on people and place, ensuring people are getting the care they need as close to home as possible. Operationally Wakefield has delivered strong integrated care through our Connecting Care Hubs. The hubs are made up of local health, social care, housing, and VCSE, working together as partners to deliver health and social care integration through innovative methods of care to local people.
Another example can be seen in our Wakefield Mental Health Alliance. This has been operating for over three years, led by South West Yorkshire Partnership Foundation Trust. It has representative from all mental health providers and primary care colleagues, who work together to design, develop and deliver Wakefield’s response to the mental health needs of our residents.
The benefits of our alliance have been significant. We have a shared understanding of the challenges and are now able to respond collectively utilising our assets, energy and enthusiasm. Two years ago 514 children in Wakefield were waiting more than 59 weeks for treatment. In February 2021 we have 197 children with the longest wait for core Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) treatment at 15 weeks. A fantastic result, albeit we know there is more to do!
Our Integrated Care Partnership has evolved and matured over the years, resulting in strong relationships, high levels of trust and demonstrable improvements to the outcomes and experience of care to local people. Our system leadership model, where a leader from one organisation takes on a district wide role for a programme for example workforce, has worked very well and has strengthened our mutual accountability as a system. Wakefield’s key approach has been for form to follow function, for example, we have brought teams together around work areas without changing workforce terms and conditions and this has been achieved through staff consensus and by using matrix management models.
Wakefield district has a strong history of collaborative working between NHS Wakefield Clinical Commissioning Group, Wakefield Council and with the wider health and care sector. Joint commissioning and delivery arrangements for mental health and learning disability services are well-established and integration of general health and social care has developed at pace in recent years. Namely through the introduction of collaborative commissioning arrangements and development of multi-agency, multi-professional teams delivering person-centred care close to home.
In order to move further faster and deal with the impact of COVID-19, Wakefield partners are keen to take the next step on our collaborative journey. The White Paper proposed changes will enable us to build on the success of our partnership and embrace positively the changes that the proposed legislation will bring. By doing so we have been able to work at scale to better meet the needs of people living across the area, whilst always keeping our eyes firmly fixed on what does our local population need – this is after all what we are all about.
Our intention has always been to reduce variation in care, so that it doesn’t matter where or how you live, what you will receive is the very best health services. Key to this is breaking down health inequalities we know exist. So whether you are homeless, from a ethnic minority community or a Traveller, what you can be assured of is fair access to health services. What we have been working on over the past few years across the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Partnership is levelling out the differences we know exist.
What we all have in common is the passion and commitment to keep people healthy and well. Primary care networks build on current primary care services, such as GP practices, district nurses and enable greater provision of proactive, personalised and more coordinated health and social care. Clinicians describe this as a change from reactively providing appointments to proactively caring for the people and communities they serve. A wonderful example of how this has worked can be seen in their work on the West Yorkshire Vaccine Programme and response to COVID-19. They have pulled all strands of local care together, including the vital contribution of the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector and their connectivity with adult social care led by councils. Our ambition for communities is to improve health for everyone and get the most out of every £ of public money. We must never lose sight of that and we will use the powers this legislation gives us to make the minimum changes necessary to achieve that ambition.
The White Paper is all about making it easier behind the scenes for people who provide health and care services to work together to do what is best for local people, including tackling health inequalities and improving the lives of the poorest, the fastest. COVID-19, with its disproportionate impact on those with the greatest challenges, including Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities and colleagues, gives added urgency to this work and our recent review focuses on real action. Our collective action covers everything from housing and jobs to improved planning, representative leadership and improvements in mental health services. Because that is what people need and everyone who can help is around the table. I welcome that this is set out in the new white paper and from my perspective we are well and truly on our way in Wakefield. This won’t change.
Earlier I mentioned the Commissioning Futures Programme, which I think has provided a strong foundation for us in West Yorkshire as we now embrace the legislative change to come. The fact that we agreed our commissioning framework as a partnership, not just as commissioners, I think signals the way in which we want to work together across health and care at neighbourhood, place and at West Yorkshire level. We have good examples of where we have already made impactful delivery and change on all footprints not least where we have come together to do so at a West Yorkshire level.
Effective commissioning partnerships working across West Yorkshire has led to real changes in hyper acute stroke units (the critical care people receive in the first 72 hours), vascular services, assessment and treatment units for people with complex learning disabilities and specialised child and adolescent mental health services to name a few.
It has also led to the adoption of good practice that saves lives and prevents illness, such as West Yorkshire and Harrogate Healthy Hearts and our work on cardiovascular disease backed by the Yorkshire & Humber Academic Health Science Network and the Partnership’s Clinical Forum. Our future commissioning arrangements will support our local place focus, irrespective of organisational structures. We expect the devolution of more functions and resources to place-based committees to enable further joint decision-making with local government via our local Integrated Care Partnerships, which we are continuing to develop across West Yorkshire.
Alongside our other Partnership colleagues, clinical commissioning group staff will be leading through the change and embracing the opportunity. Leading with courage and compassion in equal measure, making sure we peel back the layers of uncertainty and misinformation and explaining how the changes will help everyone accomplish more. As we move forward with confidence that we are / and will continue to move in the right direction, I will be valuing progress over perfection. In fact I find it provides me with the sanity I need as I don’t have the answer to everyone questions but what you can all be sure of is we will get there, as we have done before. We will not be undoing all the great work we have done already – instead we will be building on our solid platform with colleagues who have the expertise and skills we need to make it happen to the benefit of all.
Have a safe weekend, Jo
What else has been happening this week?
Covid-19 vaccinations
The NHS is currently offering Covid-19 vaccinations to people in the following priority groups:
- Cohort 5 – people aged 65-69
- Cohort 6 – people with underlying health conditions that put them at greater risk from Covid-19 and carers of elderly and disabled people.
- Cohort 7 – people aged 60-64
- Cohort 8 – people aged 55-59
If you are in one of these groups, you will be contacted when it is your turn for a vaccination, either by your practice or the NHS national booking service. Anyone aged 55 or over can book an appointment through the national booking service without waiting for a letter or by calling 119. This will be extended to people in cohort 9 (50-54) over the next few weeks so keep an eye on the site homepage to see when you can use the service.
We know lots of people will be eager to get protected but please do not contact your GP practice or the NHS for an appointment. The NHS is working hard to make sure those at greatest risk are offered the vaccine first and people will not be able to make an appointment until they have received an invitation. Covid-19 vaccinations are free of charge and only available through the NHS. Text messages from the NHS will show as being sent from NHSvaccine and will only link to the NHS.uk website. The NHS will never ask you for your bank account or card details, your PIN or banking password, or ask you to press a button on your keypad.
Please continue to follow all the safety guidance even when you’ve had the vaccine as you may still be able to spread the disease, in particular hand hygiene, wearing a face mask and social distancing. For more information about the vaccine, please visit www.nhs.uk
Update on looking out for our neighbours
Watch this film to find out more about what our neighbours have been doing since we last spoke to them in January as part of phase three of the campaign which focused on reality TV. The project group meets next week to consider phase four.
It's very important for people who have a learning disability to have the COVID vaccine - Cath shares her vaccine story
People who are on the learning disability register at their GP practice have now been invited to have their COVID-19 vaccine.
Catherine Horbury, co-lead for the Yorkshire and Humber learning disability and autism operational delivery network, recently took this opportunity and shares the importance of having the vaccine if you have a learning disability, alongside her own vaccine experience.
Anti-racism movement
Our Partnership Review into the impact of COVID-19 on health inequalities and support needed for Black Asian and minority ethnic communities and colleagues into the impact of COVID-19 on health inequalities and support needed for Black Asian and minority ethnic communities and colleagues published its report on the 22 October 2020. One of the report recommendations includes the coproduction of a anti-racism movement. A project group has been set up to take forward the work in the hope that the movement will launch late summer.
Proposals unveiled for new developments at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and Calderdale Royal Hospital
Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust on Monday unveiled the latest proposals and artists’ impressions for development work and new buildings at both Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and Calderdale Royal Hospital. They include a brand new A&E building and an essential works programme of upgrading wards and theatres at HRI and an extension of hospital buildings with an A&E, Paediatrics A&E, enhanced Intensive Care Unit and theatres at CRH as well as a patient and staff car park. All the details for the new proposals for both hospitals are available at www.chftfutureplans.co.uk
Members of the public across the communities of Calderdale and Greater Huddersfield are being invited to share their share their views on the new developments proposed in advance of planning applications being submitted to the local councils of Calderdale and Kirklees in May. The deadline to do so is Monday March 29.
The £196.5 million proposals are funded by the Department of Health and Social Care and fully supported by the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Healthcare Partnership and pending the planning permission decision, it is hoped the work could be starting this year at HRI and scheduled for completion in 2025.
The Trust’s Chair, Philip Lewer, said: “This is very much an ongoing journey to ensure we provide the best hospital healthcare for patients and families in Huddersfield and Calderdale for now and for future generations.”
West Yorkshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Cllr Helen Hayden has taken a cabinet role for Leeds City Council and will no longer be the Chair of the West Yorkshire West Yorkshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The new interim chair until June is Cllr Vanda Greenwood from Bradford. We wish Cllr Hayden the very best in her new role and look forward to working more closely with Cllr Greenwood alongside all the West Yorkshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee members.
Digital programme
The Digital Programme leads the rollout of shared records across our associated health and care organisations in partnership with the central Yorkshire and Humber Care Record team. Two of the projects that are currently underway to connect care and provide the right information, to the right person, at the right time safely and securely are:
- An integrated maternity record centred around the mother and child which will enable data sharing across several maternity systems transparently and safely. Currently, information may be stored in six different maternity systems - and potentially in none-maternity systems too. This may be because maternity patients visit several healthcare settings. By using the Yorkshire and Humber Care Record technology and developing a common infrastructure, we can exchange maternity data from across the six different systems ahead of developing a more comprehensive Maternity Shared Care Record. For more information contact: Mubashir Farooq, Digital Project Manager: mubashir.
farooq .@nhs.net - An integrated, timely and relevant end of life care record which will improve planning and delivery of care to people who are in the last year of life. Currently, organisations capture information on their own clinical system of choice. This makes it difficult to share information, including patient needs and preferences, between organisations because of varying levels of interoperability. Having a standardised electronic information sharing system where identified health and care practitioners can see and update records will reduce duplication and contribute towards delivering well-coordinated high-quality care. For more information contact: Zoe Richardson, Digital Project Manager: z.
richardson .@nhs.net
Improving population health programme
The Improving Population Health Programme Board meets today, Friday 12 March. In addition to highlight report updates from all areas of the programme the following items are on the agenda: West Yorkshire Smoke-free Forum, Health Equity Fellow proposal and Green Social Prescribing. The Climate Change Team has been delighted by the quantity and quality of applications for the Green Social Prescribing Grant Fund designed to connect people to nature, improve physical and mental health and reduce health inequalities. We’ll be making decisions over the next couple of weeks and are updating our climate change pages on the website. We’re also putting together a network of people who have been appointed as Board Level Net-Zero Leads.
Following the launch of the Health Inequalities Academy last month, we’ve circulated a post event handbook to everyone who attended. We’ve also published the pledges and speaker presentations, where these are available, on the webinars and events pages. One of the next steps is to develop a Health Equity Fellow Programme with Health Education England. We are developing communities of practice for specific sectors; for example acute hospital trusts, mental health trusts and population specific needs, such as gypsy and traveller people and migrant health. We also continue to support the coordination to deliver the BAME review actions.We are working with Huddersfield University to develop a series of housing and health briefing notes. These will include mental health and housing, town centre development and regeneration post pandemic recovery as well as the health benefits of decarbonisation.
Work continues at pace as part of the West Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit to reduce serious violence and exploitation including the launch of the Adversity, Trauma and Resilience Knowledge Exchange from Monday 22 to Wednesday 24 March 2021.
As part of the Healthy and Sustainable Hospitals framework we are developing a waiting list prioritisation tool to address health inequalities. We have joined forces with Sport England to showcase ICS approaches to increasing physical activity and are working in partnership with Sheffield Hallam University on system working and coproducing resources.
The board is chaired by Dr James Thomas, Chair of Bradford District and Craven Clinical Commissioning Group and Robin Tuddenham, CEO for Calderdale Council and Chief Officer for Calderdale Commissioning Group and includes representatives from public health, VCSE, council and the NHS.
Green Social Prescribing Network and wider work on green space
We’ve been running a Green Social Prescribing Grant Scheme to support the delivery of new green spaces and nature-based activities, which will improve the health and wellbeing of our communities and contribute to reducing health inequalities. We had a huge amount of interest and received over 200 applications. We’re currently in the process of making our funding decisions.
We’ve also set up a Green Social Prescribing Network. The purpose of the network is to raise the profile of greenspace and nature–based activities as fundamental health interventions and to help connect people who are working in this space. In the coming months, we’ll be developing an online platform to share learning and best practice and a little later in the year we’ll be running some events. If you’d like to be added to the network mailing list please do get in touch with josie.
Climate change and housing
We’re working with the University of Huddersfield on a report which looks at the importance of investment in low carbon housing for the health and wellbeing of our communities. The work covers both new build housing and retrofit and explores some of the challenges and opportunities associated with each. We also plan to carry out some analysis on the impact of fuel poverty across West Yorkshire and Harrogate and establish the populations who are the worst affected.
Diabetes
Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme
The Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (NHS DPP) continues to support current participants to reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes, as well as accepting new referrals into the programme. To date, over half a million people have been invited to attend the programme including around 12,000 from across West Yorkshire and Harrogate. People who can’t currently access GP services and blood tests for referral in to the programme, can self-refer using the Diabetes UK Know Your Risk tool.
Working together in Greater Huddersfield to prevent diabetes
86% of GP practices in Greater Huddersfield have taken part in an initiative to invite patients at risk of type 2 diabetes to take up a free place on the Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme. It means that more people have the opportunity to access the tailored and personalised support they need to help them get active and healthy reducing the risks posed by diabetes. Referrals across other areas are up too, largely thanks to the joint working of the partnership project managers and GP practices to target those at risk.
Transformation fund
Funding is available to support systems on a diabetes population equitable shares basis, moving away from funding allocations being made to CCGs for specific project bids. The partnership’s Diabetes Network partners can still influence collaborative working across the four treatment and care programme areas to reduce variation across West Yorkshire. For the purpose of the treatment and care transformation funding, Harrogate CCG has aligned to the Humber, Coast and Vale ICS.
COVID-19 and diabetes
We have gained significant knowledge and clinical expertise about COVID-19 and the impact on people with or at risk of diabetes. The COVID-19 and diabetes: update for primary care in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic provides an important update and recommendations for practice, with links to relevant resources. The Primary Care Diabetes Society (PCDS), in association with ABCD and Diabetes UK released the document.
Relaunch of the national “Act F.A.S.T.” stroke campaign
Public Health England in partnership with NHS England and Improvement have relaunched the national “Act F.A.S.T.” stroke campaign across national channels. The campaign is designed to inform the public about the signs of a stroke and to encourage people who recognise any single one of the symptoms of stroke, in themselves or others, to call 999 immediately. Tuesday 9th March, was the PR launch for the campaign with campaign messages being supported across TV advertising, broadcast video on demand (catch up TV), radio, social media, as well as PR, alongside tailored and translated communications for ethnic minority communities. The campaign is running until early May. They have launched an updated Act F.A.S.T. campaign as stroke strikes every five minutes in the UK – and can change lives in an instant. Yet the pandemic has seen a significant fall in stroke admissions and 1,413 excess deaths from stroke between 21 March 2020 and 22 January 2021 (7% higher than expected). The faster a stroke patient receives treatment, the better their chances are of surviving and reducing long-term disability.
Kirklees Council have brought in a new team of dedicated COVID Community Support Officers to work across the borough as part of their COVID response
The officers will be out and about in the local communities, providing reassurance and advice to residents and working closely with essential businesses to provide support in making sure premises continue to be Covid secure. There are currently 16 COVID Community Support Officers who are actively out in the community visiting businesses. From Monday 8 March a further 14 Covid Community Support Officers will be joining the team and this will again be increased at the end of March with a further 13 being brought in. The COVID Community Support Officers are providing an approachable, visible presence in communities to encourage Covid safe behaviour and are currently visiting around 100 businesses per day. The first cohort of officers have visited every place of worship in Kirklees to assist in making sure that they are able to provide a Covid safe environment for their worshipers and congregations.
Planning approval granted for enhancements to new young people’s mental health unit
Young people from across West Yorkshire and the staff caring for them will benefit from expanded and more spacious facilities adapted for a post pandemic world when they move into a new purpose built mental health unit later this year. The new £20million unit, to be known as Red Kite View, will accommodate a new enhanced Child and Adolescent Mental Health Inpatient Service (CAMHS), and is currently being built on the St Mary’s Hospital site in Armley, Leeds. Leeds City Council has now approved amendments to the design of the unit to help the Trust implement improved safety measures required following the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic. The changes focus on providing more space for staff, young people and their families or carers to socially distance inside the building, and improve points where service users could congregate presenting a higher risk of infection. Take a virtual tour of Red Kite View
International Women’s Day
As part of International Women’s Day on Monday, an online event open to everyone across the Partnership took place. It involved conversation exploring: The increased emotional load, Balancing caring responsibilities and/or kids, Home-schooling, Expectations around continued productivity, Home life blend, The intersectionality of gender and race in a COVID-19 world – the double whammy guilt. Fatima Khan-Shah also wrote a blog for the Department of Health and Social Care on many of the areas outlined.
You can also watch this film by Dr Owen Williams, CEO for Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust about women who have inspired him both in and outside of work.