Posted on: 29 April 2022
Hello, my name is Len. I’m the Chief Executive at The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust. I still think of myself as quite new to the job, but I’ve been here for seven months now.
It’s certainly been a busy time as we face some of the biggest pressures and challenges the NHS has ever had to tackle, but one of the things that I truly believe is helping us to navigate these challenges is the way our wider health system works so closely and collaboratively.
During my seven months, I’ve met with many colleagues from across the local healthcare system and it’s been a pleasure to start to get to know the wider team that makes up the place-based arrangement in Kirklees and Wakefield District alongside the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership, our integrated care system (ICS).
I have always seen the value in system working, engagement with primary care, community services and close collaboration with local authorities, and the fact that the Health and Care Bill, currently going through Parliament will - if approved - put integrated care systems on a statutory footing is testament to the fact that the benefits of collaborative working are widely recognised.
Indeed, when we think about a model of system working, I firmly believe that we need to look outside the confines of our own organisations / boundaries – both geographic and sector related - for examples of good practice and inspiration. Integrated healthcare systems are developing across the world as we all strive to respond to the same pressures of over-crowded acute hospitals, and a lack of sustainability. We can learn and adapt from what others have done.
It wasn’t until I had the opportunity to work in Australia, where I ran a hospital and health service, that I saw the real benefit of system working, which was then magnified with the help and support from some international colleagues when I led the Cardiff & Vale University Health Board in the Welsh Health System.
In my role as CEO at Cardiff & Vale I reached out to The Canterbury District Health Board, in New Zealand, in the hope of being able to learn from the way in which they went about their transformation to become one of the best and most integrated care systems in the world. It was a real eye opener, not only did it demonstrate that there were different community-based models of care, but it gave us some very practical approaches and a real direction for taking our own vision forward. Canterbury quickly became a partner in our journey.
I was struck by the way the system there places an emphasis on culture, clinical leadership, and information, as the fundamental elements to enable the health care system to function efficiently and effectively.
By harnessing a culture and environment where clinical staff are trusted to lead and make decisions, it means that the patient is placed at the heart of decision making, resulting in services that are more responsive to patients’ needs.
The information system they use further supports this clinically led way of working. With one overarching system pulling data from several different systems and joining it up to provide a unique view of how the system is performing.
It shows how patients are accessing health and care, where the queues are developing in terms of waiting lists or waiting times in a department, the flow of patients through the system from primary care and community services, those waiting for investigations, those patients going into social care, and ambulance conveyances. It’s also real time and enables clinical staff to drill down to get a very granular view of what is happening on their ward, GP practice, diagnostic dept, theatre or community team. So, it’s clear to see how the system provides data that truly compliments the knowledge the clinicians have from their first-hand interaction with patients, giving them a rich picture of information on which to base their decisions. We’re already looking at ways that we can bring this kind of information technology to Mid Yorkshire for the benefit of the Place.
Hopefully you can see that I’m very excited about the opportunities that the developments in system working at place and across West Yorkshire bring. It will bring huge benefits to our patients, and I hope help to harness a much more clinically focussed - and led - way of working.
I’m always open to discussion about this topic so if anyone wants to get in touch to talk further about previous experiences of system working or kick around ideas then please do, I’d love to talk. You can reach me on Twitter @MY_LenRichards, or email me leonard.
Thank you for reading, have a great weekend all.
Len
What else has been happening this week?
Second annual adversity, trauma, and resilience knowledge exchange
We hosted our second Annual Adversity, Trauma and Resilience Knowledge Exchange in partnership with the West Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit from Tuesday to Thursday this week. Hundreds of people joined the online event opened by Rob Webster CBE, CEO-Designate for the Partnership and Kersten England, CEO for Bradford Metropolitan Council and Senior Responsible Officer for the Partnership’s work.
With a focus on prevention, early intervention, and mitigating harm from preconceptions throughout life, the event showcased the amazing work that is taking place across our system. Throughout the three-day event attendees took part on a journey from theory to practice, joined workshops and Q&A sessions and heard reports on the progress towards reaching our collective ambition as well as early findings from our research, evaluation, and development of resources.
Children and young people who experience adversity and trauma are at high risk of; poor physical/mental health and emotional wellbeing, substantive increases in adopting anti-social and health-harming behaviours, including serious violence, poor attendance/exclusion at school, and decreased educational attainment.
Adults who face multiple disadvantages because of trauma and adversity are four times more likely to have addictions, fifteen more times likely to take their own life, and three times more likely to be absent from work. To improve outcomes for the physical, mental health, and well-being of the people that live and work in West Yorkshire we need to work together to prevent trauma and adversity and mitigate existing harm across the life course. While fully eradicating trauma remains unlikely, actions to strengthen community resilience and assets may partially offset their immediate harms. Event attendees were tasked over the three days to listen, respond, and share evidence, knowledge, and practice. There was an emphasis on how grassroots expertise can underpin the shifts in culture and practice needed to achieve the West Yorkshire vision of ensuring the area is trauma-informed and responsive to people’s needs.
A huge thank you to all our presenters and to everyone who joined. For more information see the Adversity, Trauma and Resilience Annual Knowledge Exchange website Copies of the presentations and other handy resources will also be available on the Partnership’s Knowledge Exchange pages.
Public, Patient and Assurance Group (PPI) of the Clinical Commissioning Group
The PPI lay member group met on Monday. Members discussed commissioning policies, the development of the Partnership’s Involvement Framework and future West Yorkshire programme engagement work. There was also an update on campaigns coming up.
Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism Partnership Board
The Mental Health Learning Disabilities and Autism Partnership Board took place on Tuesday 26 April and discussed a wide-ranging agenda. The Board heard that NHS England / Improvement is reviewing the priorities that were set pre-COVID in the expectation that some of those priorities and trajectories may need to be revised in response to changing patterns of need, available resources and workforce constraints. The team has prepared and shared a West Yorkshire response to the NHSE consultation with partners on changes Long Term Plan trajectories.
Programme workstreams reported on their progress, delivering a detailed update from the Transforming Care Programme about our learning disability inpatient reduction trajectory, performance against care education and treatment reviews, physical health checks, COVID-19 vaccination uptake, the position regarding learning from learning disability deaths (LeDeR) and Safe and Wellbeing Reviews.
The Board received an update on the outcomes and progress indicators against our agreed actions to reduce inequality for Ethnic Minorities and confirmed an extension to the contract for the West Yorkshire Grief and Loss Helpline and how the programme continues to strengthen its core team with the appointment of a consultant in public health who will begin work in early summer.
The commitments within our West Yorkshire People Plan continue to be progressed, including the forthcoming ‘go live’ of the collaborative bank and campaigns being delivered locally and across West Yorkshire with the aim of attracting new talent via the virtual recruitment fairs.
Other updates covered:
- The Children and Young People’s Mental Health (CYPMH) workstream – describing early progress from the provider collaborative beginning to reduce out of area placements and refinements to Partnership and Collaborative governance to take the forward the West Yorkshire Strategic Plan for CYPMH.
- The Neurodiversity Deep Dive – including the development of the steering and reference groups, co-production capacity and involvement of the Y&H clinical senate.
- The current picture in terms of West Yorkshire data underpinning the Community Mental Health Transformation work, describing expected trajectories, recruitment achievements and development of the health inequalities framework.
- The position in terms of trajectories for core long term plan indicators following the recent planning process
- The coordination of a single West Yorkshire response to the Government ‘Call for Evidence’ into Mental Health and Wellbeing which is running over the next 12 weeks.
West Yorkshire Communications and Engagement Network
Over 50 communication and engagement colleagues came together via digital technology on Thursday. There was a full agenda covering public health campaigns, the new health and care legislation, the work of the partnership and shared learning from Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust communications team on shining a light on the positive work, people and stories taking place daily across the hospitals. Their Heroes Unmasked staff podcasts include tales of past rugby careers, living on submarines, balancing children’s critical care with sheep farming, and writing an anthology of minority staff experiences. You can listen to the series via the Leeds Teaching Hospitals website.
Colleagues also had the opportunity to say hello to Cathy Elliott, our Chair-Designate for West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board.
Treatments for COVID-19 antivirals
Clinically vulnerable people continue to be assessed for new antiviral COVID-19 treatments across West Yorkshire. You read more from Paul and Marie, and the difference it has made to their lives.
Born This Way
Sexual health organisation, Yorkshire MESMAC, has produced a new video aimed at healthcare professionals to help improve trans+ healthcare and the care experience. In the video, people share their real-life experiences and debunk some common myths of what being trans means.
Coming out to your GP or other medical health professional is a big deal and might have taken a long time to get to that point. Although many healthcare professionals do get it right there’s always more we can do. Transitioning is a journey and sometimes the little things, like using the correct pronoun or getting someone’s name right can make a big positive difference in how people feel about themselves. Involving and listening to patients, being respectful, non-judgemental, patient and considerate of additional needs can all help people feel more in control of their own health.
John’s journey on the Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme
Part 7 is the last instalment of John’s video diary detailing his journey on the Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme. What a journey – and what a difference. John describes how it’s gone and share his latest stats. The results speak for themselves. For all John’s previous videos see the diabetes projects and case studies page.
New pathology laboratory for Leeds, West Yorkshire and Harrogate gets under way
Work has begun on a new state-of-the-art pathology laboratory to serve patients in Leeds, West Yorkshire and Harrogate.
The facility, at St James’s Hospital, Leeds, will support hospitals across the region to improve diagnostics for patients and help to meet the growing regional demand for specialist treatment and care - as well as providing development opportunities for staff.
The new Laboratory forms a key part of the strategy for delivering pathology services across West Yorkshire and Harrogate and is prioritised by our Partnership with a focus on delivering integrated care across the region. You can read more on the news section of the Partnership website.
Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub
The Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub is working on developing the Critical Incident Staff Support Pathway (CrISSP), led by Dr Kerry Hinsby, Clinical Lead for the Hub.
COVID has shone a spotlight on staff wellbeing, but the need to support staff when working with trauma has long been understood as vital. With this in mind, we are hosting an in-person all-day free event in Leeds on 18 May which aims to build the skills, knowledge and frameworks to understand and support staff when encountering potentially traumatic events at work. This conference brings together speakers who are leading in this area both nationally and internationally. Speakers include Dr Sharon Prince, Marvina Newton, Stephen Regel and Adrian Neal, who will talk alongside those developing the work locally as part of the Hub. The event is now open to colleagues who have an interest in or want to know more about supporting their teams and others following a critical incident at work.
People can register on the Eventbrite platform using this link. There are approximately 40 places still available. Booking closes on 6 May.
Coaching support for neurodiverse colleagues
One of the West Yorkshire Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub’s key priorities is to provide mental health and wellbeing support to colleagues who are disproportionately impacted by their work, and/or those most at risk of health inequalities. This includes our neurodiverse colleagues, such as those who have a diagnosis of Autism.
In order to make a start on providing appropriate help and support the Hub has commissioned a pilot from an external specialist workplace coach to see if we can help these colleagues. This coaching will focus on workplace issues, and uses a Solution Focused approach to help our colleagues with their specific challenges and aspirations. Examples might include: your colleague’s contributions in their current position, their opportunities for personal and professional development, and their opportunities for career progression. We all want all our colleagues to have the best opportunity to contribute, develop, and grow within and beyond their role.
The pilot is limited to offering help to 10 colleagues initially. If you have someone in your team that might benefit from a useful conversation, please contact the Hub team via email bdcccg.
Stress Awareness Month
Just a reminder as we come to the end of Stress Awareness Month that our support for colleagues continues. All of the resources in our Managing Stress package will remain available. Please browse the content and share where appropriate.
