This week's leadership message is a podcast with Sara Munro

What else has been happening this week?

The Joint Committee Patient and Public Involvement Assurance Group

The purpose of the Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) Assurance Group is to assure the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Joint Committee of Clinical Commissioning Groups (‘the Joint Committee’) that authentic patient and public involvement underpins the Joint Committee’s decisions about the programmes in its work plan. The Group helps to shape and develop the strategic approach for engaging local people. It reviews patient and public engagement mechanisms, and provides assurance that programme areas of work are informed by stakeholder views in line with our Partnership’s communications and engagement strategy (easy read available here).

Members received an update on the work of our Improving Planned Care Programme around meaningful public and patient involvement as well as an overview of communications and engagement across the Partnership. This included the development of a public summary to support our Five Year Plan, ‘Looking out for our neighbours’ campaign for winter and health and care champions for people with learning disabilities.

There was also an update from West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance about their work involving patients and the public including the review of their communication and engagement strategy. Patient involvement in service improvement and transformation both locally and nationally was also discussed. The Cancer Alliance also has a community panel with around 40 members; you can learn more about the work of the panel and the impact they have made by watching this video here.

Local Workforce Action Board

A successful learning event was hosted by the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Local Workforce Action Board (LWAB) and Health Education England last week to showcase the workforce projects that have been funded via the LWAB in 2018/19. Over 100 colleagues attended and the feedback was very positive in terms of sharing best practice and learning across our area. More events like this have been requested from delegates.

The LWAB met last week and agreed to establish a ‘People Board’ which will report into our system leadership group and set direction for the LWAB. The LWAB will report into the People Board and will operationalise the priorities and share best practice. A small group of LWAB members are meeting early November to recommend priorities and governance arrangements going forward.

Harnessing the Power of Communities Programme

Programme members from across the voluntary and community sector met on Tuesday. This included colleagues from Voluntary Action Calderdale, Leeds Community Foundation, Community First Yorkshire and Age UK. There were key updates from the Leadership Day on 1 October and the BAME Session. Other items included transformation funding and a discussion on integrated volunteering approaches programme. Two presentations were given, one on our Digital and Interoperability Programme Strategy and the other on the Apprenticeship Levy Project from Callum Bennett, Project Manager, West Yorkshire and Harrogate Excellence Centre. Callum updated the group by outlining the national context and the purpose of the apprenticeship levy. There was also a discussion on the development of our Five Year Plan and the new Improving Population Health Programme. Members of the group were in agreement, that all places should make sure that integration and shared learning is key.

West Yorkshire and Harrogate National Dementia Pilot

The Yorkshire and the Humber Dementia and Older Peoples Mental Health Clinical Network team are supporting the delivery of the national dementia pilot within the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership. Stakeholders have chosen to focus on the following three priority areas:

Delirium training and awareness videos

A set of videos are being made to show what it is like to have an episode of delirium. The videos are aimed at staff to raise their awareness of the signs and symptoms to look out for. The videos will be developed into an e-learning package and will be accessible on the e- learning for health platform.

Advance Care Planning (ACP)

This work aims to increase opportunities for people living with dementia and family carers to talk about their wishes for future care, to record these wishes as an ACP and to enable sharing of this information with staff involved in their care, including the ambulance service.

Reducing distress in people living with dementia

This work involves exploring a range of tools, including simple behaviour record charts, intended to help care home staff better understand the needs and underlying distress behaviours in residents with dementia.

Engagement with people affected by dementia

One of the cornerstones for delivery of the national pilot work is the ongoing involvement of people affected by dementia. The Alzheimer’s Society has been commissioned, as lead provider, to establish a network/infrastructure for ongoing engagement and to develop information explaining the Advance Care Planning co-produced with people affected by dementia.

For further information contact penny.kirk@nhs.net or colinsloane@nhs.net

Stroke improvement pathway update

Emma Dorman, the Partnership’s Stroke Improvement Project Manager for stroke is carrying out a gap analysis on the provision of post-acute rehabilitation services in Bradford District and Craven; Calderdale, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield. Emma joins the Partnership from West Yorkshire Stroke Association for six months.

Her role includes looking at how services are provided in our six local areas and highlighting best practice against West Yorkshire and Harrogate service specifications. This will help to identify if there are any post-hospital and community rehabilitation service gaps and how they may be commissioned in the future. Emma will be part of the local Stroke Clinical Network (Chaired by Dr Prabal Datta) and working with lead stroke clinicians across West Yorkshire and Harrogate on this work. It’s a great opportunity for the voluntary sector to be working with the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health Care Partnership. Importantly, highlighting how their vital work can play a role in supporting the delivery of equitable rehabilitation services for all stroke survivors in West Yorkshire.

West Yorkshire and Harrogate Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism Programme Board

The Board meets this morning in Wakefield. It is chaired by Dr Sara Munro, CEO for Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Sara is also the CEO Lead for the Partnership’s Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism Programme. Colleagues from the NHS, councils and community sector attend the meetings. The agenda includes an update on the Partnership’s Draft Five Year Plan; the development of a strategy for the programme and also an overview on the dementia pilot which is being supported by colleagues from NHS England, who have set up a multi-agency project team which includes community sector organisations. Other discussions planned include a potential suicide prevention campaign proposal and important work stream updates such as assessment treatment units for people with learning disabilities, forensic services and children and adults ADHD.

West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership Area Partnership Group (unions)

Colleagues from the Local Workforce Action Board, Health Education England and the Partnership meet with union representatives from across the area this afternoon. Ian Holmes, Director for the Partnership will update them on the development of the Partnership’s Five Year Plan, the Interim NHS People Plan (including our own workforce) and the Partnership Board meeting which takes place on Tuesday 3 December 2019.