This week's leadership message comes from Rob Webster, Lead CEO for our Partnership

Hello my name is Rob

Our partnership has three big priorities that remain intact in this Covid19 period. We are here to tackle health inequalities, reduce unwarranted variations in care and manage our collective resources to make the biggest difference we can to people’s lives.

My recent blogs have focused on the first two – which remain in our sights. With the Office of National Statistics figures showing double the death rates nationally in deprived areas; widespread reports of disproportionate deaths of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) staff; and the big push on making sure non-covid patients are seen by the NHS, we are as busy as ever.

At this time of year, we are also required to publish our NHS accounts to show we are managing our money. I am pleased to let you know that, in 2019/20, our Partnership (also known as an Integrated Care System) collectively delivered in full our NHS financial plans across both providers and commissioners for the first time in many years. This means a £36m surplus on a budget of £4.1bn, or about 1%.  This really is positive news – it keeps control of our finances, makes sure we benefit from all of the provider sustainability funding available from NHS England and demonstrates how we are supporting each other. This is all down to the strength of our relationships and Partnership approach.  

The 2019/20 financial year was challenging for the public sector, and whilst the NHS received funds at levels higher than inflation, the demand for healthcare services outstripped this.  In May 2018, we were named as one of four new integrated care system in England to be given additional freedom and flexibility to manage the delivery of local services.  This put us at the forefront of nationwide action to provide better co-ordinated and more joined up care for 2.7 million people living across West Yorkshire and Harrogate. Importantly it gave us more control and influence over spending and transformation closer to local people in our six places (Bradford district and Craven; Calderdale, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield).

As a Partnership, we were given the opportunity for the 2019/20 financial year to adopt the national Integrated Care System Financial Framework, and we did this in each of our organisations and collectively.  This decision marked an important step towards effective financial partnership working. The key feature of the Framework was to place delivery of the collective NHS financial position in West Yorkshire and Harrogate at the front and centre of the way we monitored, risk-assessed and managed our financial position. 

Delivery of our overall financial position allows us to retain funding which would otherwise have been lost (if any individual organisation was unable to delivers its financial targets).  We have been operating to open-book principles within the Partnership, where challenge and peer review, combined with practical support, is becoming the normal way of working.

So why talk about this now? This same spirit of collaboration is helping us to manage the financial pressures brought about by Covid-19, making sure NHS resources are targeted in the right areas and national funding accessed. So far, significant NHS funds have flowed into West Yorkshire and Harrogate as part of the Government’s promises to match what we need. This is very welcome. We also, though, continue to point out to central government that the financial pressures on our councils are substantial because of coronavirus. Losing council income and increasing care and education costs puts pressure on the sector significantly. The short term boosts to our local authority finances from central government are welcome but widely recognised to be insufficient.

In the meantime, councils are doing a brilliant job supporting the daily management of the epidemic. Our Local Resilience Forum work closely with all partners and are ably lead by councils. Every week when we clap for carers and clap for keyworkers, I clap for them, their staff and the massive support they provide.

As a Partnership, because we have managed our money well, we are able to provide quick boosts to voluntary community organisations and charities. This week our Partnership launched our Health Inequalities Grant Fund on Tuesday to help reduce the gap in health equalities across Bradford district and Craven; Calderdale, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield. £450,000 of funds has been made available to voluntary and community organisations to help tackle the impact on people’s health affected by COVID-19, as part of our improving population health management programme. As highlighted by ‘Health Equity in England: the Marmot review 10 years on’ report, health is affected by the environment and community in which we live. The more deprived the area, the shorter the life expectancy and the poorer the state of health within these shorter lives.

In particular, we are looking for innovative and sustainable community support for people who are worst affected by the impact of the pandemic. For example those who live alone and cannot access social activities, people whose mental health and financial circumstances have changed significantly due to the pandemic. The aim is to also share good practice across the area, which is one of the very reasons why our Partnership exists. This includes approaches that enable safer communities, to those that increase resilience and reduce health inequalities, whilst promoting healthier lives.

Voluntary and community organisations (VCS) are invited to apply for grant funding for up to £50,000. Six funds will be available for up to £25,000, with another six grants between £25,000 and £50,000 and we are looking for partnerships between the NHS, councils, community groups, charities, social enterprises or other charitable organisations from the third sector that can work across the sector and organisations boundaries. These latest funds come at a time when their work can help support people who were already subject to significant inequality, that Covid-19 will risk making worse. The fact we have such a strong partnership with the third sector helps get money out and delivery happening where it is needed most.

More information can be found at www.wyhpartnership.co.uk. The fund opened on 28 April 2020 and the deadline to apply is 5pm, 8th June. Funding will be awarded in June 2020. Please do let your VCS partners know.

Looking to the future, we will hasten the capital works that will boost the economy and help change care delivery. Since 2018 our Partnership has secured the largest share of NHS national capital investment; a total of just less than £1bn.  This includes £197m to support the reconfiguration of the hospitals at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, £600m for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to build two new hospitals (one for children and one for adults) at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) which will benefit the wider region. £27m has also been allocated to create a brand new specialist hub laboratory for the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Pathology Network. We are also seeing investment in mental health services with £11m for rehabilitation and recovery; and £13m towards a much needed specialist regional mental health unit for children and young people. The foundations and work on the latter began last week.

We will continue to work together. Though finance may feel a dry topic to cover in this context, we will feel the impact of losing financial control very deeply indeed if we do not retain our partnership’s excellent work and management.

Have a safe and well weekend,
Rob