This week’s leadership message comes from Robin Tuddenham, CEO for Calderdale Council and Place Lead for Calderdale. We also have a blog from Mike Savage, Director of Finance at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust.

Posted on: 5 May 2023

Robin Tuddenham Hello, my name is Robin.

The economy is flatlining, and the health and care system is in crisis. These two issues are, rightly, featuring prominently in political discourse and media coverage. However, while they are often thought of and presented separately, they are in fact part of the same story. Health is wealth, and wealth is health. Without urgent and sustained action by Government, public services, and civic institutions, we face a descent into a state no longer able to respond to the needs of its population, with an economy slowly withering on the vine.

According to ONS data, the number of working age adults absent from the labour market due to long-term illness reached two and a half million in the summer of last year, up from around two million in 2019. This is a thirty year high, with suggested causes for the increase including lengthy waiting lists for NHS treatment and the impact of long COVID. However, this is a long-term trend, with the numbers out of work for health-related reasons already rising – though less rapidly – before the pandemic began. Simply put, our population is getting more ill and frailer, and any effort to tackle both wellbeing and productivity of the UK has to tackle this head on.

The development of Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) has a potential to broker new collaboration and alignment between the NHS, councils, combined authorities, and the voluntary sector. The recently published Hewitt Review highlights scope for greater alignment of resource across public services, and the potential impact of greater collaboration. Here in West Yorkshire, we have created joint posts focusing on work and health, building on the joint working already in place. I am delighted that Jennifer Connolly has now joined us to lead the integrated work on health and the economy, which is agreed as a key priority for our Improving Population Health Programme.

In my joint role in the Council and ICB, I am clear that work on elective recovery is as much about the economy and worklessness as it is health, with the system shifting its focus and understanding of impact in this context. Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust have done excellent work in this space, focusing on health inequalities and those most at risk from delay in access to care. The Institute for Public Policy Research has just reported the clear links in cutting waiting lists boosting the economy by £73million over five years, whilst we know the operational challenges remain significant, particularly in view of the recent industrial action.

Policy and political responses have been traditionally focused on getting people back to work when experiencing long term ill health, but the evidence is clear that once people have left the workforce for a substantial period of time, they are unlikely to return. Health Foundation research has shown 1.6 million of the 3.5 million economically inactive 50 to 69-year-olds reported ill health as their primary reason for not working, and the Resolution Foundation have highlighted that less than 2% of people over 50 and out of work for two years or more return to work.

Panoramic of Elland houses - image licence held by Calderdale Cares Partnership and used with permission

Long-term ill health is bad for the people experiencing it, who are often prevented from working despite the desire and financial need to do so. However, it is also bad for businesses – particularly in areas experiencing significant skills shortages – and the wider economy, with fewer workers meaning lower tax income and therefore less to spend on the public services that prevent people getting ill in the first place, or support those who are already unwell back to health. This is a vicious cycle, and we need to fundamentally change the way we think about, fund, and deliver services in both employment and health.

Truly effective action to address economic inactivity must start to focus on those at risk of poor health and just leaving work at an early stage. It can only take place with significant resources, funding and powers being devolved and distributed right across the country to enable a seismic shift in spending with a greater focus on prevention and early intervention activity linked to both health and the economy. Even devolving a small proportion of the £20bn currently spent by Government on national employment schemes to local leaders could see a 15% increase in people finding work or improving their skills, as research conducted for the LGA by the Learning and Work Institute shows.

Participants at a fostering Park Run event in Brighouse

What is clear is that we must move beyond the fragmented and piecemeal nature of national programmes towards strong place-based schemes. For if we are to turn the tide on growing worklessness and create the conditions that keep working age people healthy and in employment, then we have got to invest not only in people but places too – and who better to do that than those who know their people and places best? Taking a top-down approach to both addressing health and worklessness has not worked. It is time to give local areas the funding and powers to get our people and places fighting fit, working, and driving the growth the country so sorely needs.

Have a good weekend,
Robin

Hi, my name is Mike Savage and I am the Director of Finance at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust (part of the Bradford District & Craven Place). I have been in my role now for six months, having started in November 2022, and I’m really enjoying being a part of the West Yorkshire Integrated Care System (ICS), having previously worked at Manchester Royal Infirmary as Director of Finance for just under three years (one of three acute sites within Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and part of the Greater Manchester ICS).

Having grown up in Bradford and Ilkley with family based in Craven, I know Bradford District & Craven well. I currently live in Hebden Bridge, Calderdale, and my family have directly experienced the support from across West Yorkshire to enable us to live healthy, happy lives. I have worked across the NHS for the past 10 years, with the last six years in complex acute hospitals, and prior to that almost 20 years in the private sector, 11 of which were with PWC and JPMorgan Chase in London and New York. As a result, I hope to bring a blend of the best of the NHS and private sector strategic and operational financial leadership, having been inspired by a number of past leaders that I’ve worked with.

I believe leadership is an honour and responsibility and I have set out below some of the key learnings over my career:

Lead from the heart as well as the head
Do the right thing, not the easy thing
Have the courage to stand up for what you believe in
Act quickly on tough issues
Never stop learning - learn from the successes as well as from adversity
Drive innovation and strive for constant improvement
Develop your people, recruit great people, get to know them well and support them. Ensure they feel valued and that they know their contributions are important. Communicate with them honestly, clearly and often.

As a leader in the NHS I aim to be seen as a trusted advisor, inspiring colleagues to create excellence in management and delivery to support clinically led organisations. I am committed to innovate and continuously improve (at Airedale we are currently working towards achieving Future Focused Finance Level 3 Accreditation which recognises the best in culture, skills and processes in NHS finance, and will enable my skilled and talented team to develop further); to work collaboratively across teams to drive change and service transformation; and to deliver safe, effective, and efficient patient care and services. I am also focused on:

Aligning waste reduction to safety and improvement.
Cutting waste forensically – encouraging colleagues to spend money with the same attention to detail as if they were managing their own personal finances.
Embracing diversity, inclusion and belonging.
Being open to different management and individual styles.
Being a compassionate leader.

Since joining the NHS I have benefited from various leadership development programmes such as City University London CASS Business School NHS Strategic Financial Leadership Programme, NHS Top Leaders Programme and NHS Aspiring Finance Leaders National Talent Pool Programme, and I encourage others to seek out the excellent personal development resources that are available.

Staff celebrating Airedale's 50th birthday in 2020 Airedale celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2020 and I am excited to have the opportunity to play my part in shaping its future, and to be part of a leadership team working to build a sustainable legacy for the next generation. We are working towards an electronic patient record ‘go live’ in September 2024, sharing the same Cerner instance as Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, and we are hoping to join the New Hospital Programme in the imminent future, given the significant Reinforced Autoclave Aerated Concrete (RAAC) estate issues on the Airedale site.

Working within finance in West Yorkshire has been a very positive experience so far and I feel lucky to work in such a collegiate, supportive place and ICS system. Most of the finance directors have worked together over several years, building trust and mutual respect. They all play a part in supporting the work of the wider ICS as well as our own organisations, to help drive forward the success of West Yorkshire as a whole. I am also one of six finance directors in the West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts (WYAAT). WYAAT is part of West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership and is an innovative collaboration which brings together the NHS trusts who deliver acute hospital services across West Yorkshire and Harrogate. It is about local hospitals working in partnership with one another to give patients access to the very best facilities and helping staff to be the best they can be.

Airedale is an integrated acute and community provider, and is an anchor organisation with strong ties to its community covering an urban and rural geography of 700 square miles. In my Bradford District & Craven Place, teamwork and partnership are critical to our success because they add more value in helping our communities to be ‘healthy, happy at home’. The various partnerships with Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust, Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, local councils and Yorkshire Ambulance Service, to name just a few, are essential to delivering safe and effective services for our patients and population.

If I could finish with one piece of advice for aspiring leaders it would be: make the most of the opportunities on offer, whether that’s formal training and development, or the chance to get involved with something new, even if it is way outside of your comfort zone. You never know where it will take you, and you’ll always meet interesting people along the way from whom you can learn.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and please don’t hesitate to make contact with me in the future.

Mike

What else has been happening?

Look out for our neighbours this coronation weekend

Sharing a cuppa with OurNeighbours could be the icing on the cake As many prepare to hang out the bunting and celebrate the coronation in style this bank holiday weekend (6-8 May), people across West Yorkshire are asked to ‘look out for their neighbours’.

We are flying the flag for our award winning ‘Looking out for our neighbours’ community campaign this coronation weekend, sending a timely reminder to people across Bradford District and Craven, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield District that simple acts of kindness can make a huge difference especially to those who might be feeling lonely, or isolated.

So, if you are having a royal party fit for King Charles III or spending time with your family, please do ‘Look out for each other’ wherever you can. A smile and a wave, sharing a cuppa or asking how a neighbour is might just brighten their day. During this time of celebration we can all make a huge difference to someone and make a positive difference to our neighbours’ lives through simple acts of kindness. Lending a hand or a small act of kindness is what helps to keep us connected.

Bank holiday weekends can be lonely for many. Celebrating the coronation, by coming together and inviting people living alone to get involved in your activities could make a huge difference to their lives, as well as your own. Find out more about #OurNeighbours by visiting the website to see how you can become a local supporter in your area https://ourneighbours.org.uk/supporters/

Uganda delegation visits West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership to share learning in maternity and neonatal care for pregnant women

Global Partnerships delegation from Ghana 2023 Our Partnership welcomed visitors from Uganda as part of the global health programmes to the area on Thursday 27 April. The visit followed a UK East Africa Health Alliance Summit in London. Visitors included Dr Diana Atwin, the Permanent Secretary of Health for Uganda; Dr Henry Muwonge, Country Lead, Uganda UK Health Alliance; Miriam Otengo, from the Ugandan High Commission; and Dr Soloman Kamurari, Head of Programmes, Uganda UK Health Alliance.

The West Yorkshire and Harrogate Local Maternity and Neonatal System have been working with colleagues in Uganda since 2021 to share good practice around high-quality, safer maternity and neonatal care for pregnant women across both countries.

The relationship has already led to the development of fifteen local maternity and neonatal system across Uganda. These aim to strengthen multi stakeholder collaboration and resilient systems for the delivery of reproductive maternal newborn child and adolescent health services across the country, whilst making the most of shared learning with West Yorkshire and Harrogate.

The recent visit included conversations with clinical staff from local maternity and neonatal services.

Urgent and emergency care communications

Together we can - your local health and wellbeing guide ‘Together We Can’ is West Yorkshire’s long-term campaign to minimise pressures on urgent and emergency services. This is the second year the campaign has been rolled out as an area wide winter campaign. The signposting campaign has been built on data, insight and user testing. Campaign creatives were updated to reflect the current climate and learning from the previous year. The aim of the campaign was to encourage people to use health services responsibly during what was expected to be another challenging winter for NHS services. The Together We Can winter 2022/23 campaign evaluation is now available to view here.

Campaign headlines

57,698 unique visitors to the website
2,901,642 impacts on local radio
92,004 people reached by promotional iVan
217,018 video views via paid for advertising
1,376,270 paid social advertising impressions (unique views)
84, 744 people reached via Spotify

In the second year of the campaign togetherwe-can.com

Attracted 16,483 users. An increase of 9,247 users on the previous year
Had 25,453 page views. An additional 14,360 views on the previous year.
10,749 new users accessed the website through paid advertising

Together we can - evaluation infographics (decorative)

NHS vaccinates half of care home residents in three weeks

The NHS COVID-19 vaccination programme has vaccinated more than 150,000 older adult care home residents in England in just three weeks since the campaign began – over half of all those eligible.

Roving teams of NHS staff have visited more than 6,000 care homes – almost three in five – to offer the spring jabs since the campaign launched on Monday 3 April with the targeted visits. As of Tuesday 25 April, 153,460 care home residents have taken up the offer – 50.2% of those eligible.

A tour of the new centre for laboratory medicine

Mike Philpott, Sarah Armstrong, Max McLean, Jonathan Coulter, Helen Hirst, Foluke Ajayi, Len Richards and Lucy Cole Last week, the Building the Leeds Way programme team at Leeds Teaching Hospitals welcomed the chairs and chief executives from other trusts that are part of the West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts (WYAAT). They were given a tour of the new Centre for Laboratory Medicine - the name of the new pathology laboratory currently under construction at St James’s.

The guests saw first-hand the progress that has been made on the new, state-of-the-art facility which is on track to be completed in the summer.

Maternity voices

In this maternity voices video nine women share their feelings about what was important to them about their maternity care. Colleagues from Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust coproduced the video, which includes the voices of women from a range of different backgrounds and experiences, for example, those seeking asylum or who have used mental health services. A shorter edit for using on social media is also available. The importance of personalisation, workforce representation, cultural awareness and respect, listening, kindness and advocacy were all clear themes.

The Trust is using the film as part of staff equity and diversity training and hope to embed it regionally within the local maternity and neonatal system training too.

Coronation weekend

king charles coronation 6 may 2023 The King's Coronation will take place on Saturday 6 May at Westminster Abbey. Communities are being encouraged to come together for street parties on Sunday 7 May as part of the 'Big Lunch', while a volunteering drive will take place on the bank holiday Monday to encourage people to help out in their local communities.

The Coronation festivities come during what is already a year of celebration and reflection for the NHS as it marks its 75th year, as the health service looks back on its achievements and the opportunities that lie ahead. The timeline for the Coronation weekend:

Saturday 6 May

11am - The coronation of the King and Queen Consort , Westminster Abbey

2pm (approx.) - King's procession begins – NHS staff will be in attendance. People can watch the Coronation in-person and online, and advice on travelling over the weekend (guidance can be found here)

Sunday 7 May

Coronation Big Lunches, organised by the Big Lunch team at the Eden Project - neighbours and communities coming together for street parties
Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle – NHS staff members will be attending, plus there will be a "coronation choir” performing, featuring various NHS Choir.

Monday 8 May (Bank holiday)

Big Help Out, organised by the Together coalition and partners - the public are encouraged to volunteer and join projects in their local area

Our NHS is asking patients to choose services appropriately over the bank holiday and take simple steps to help ensure care is available to patients who need it most.

This includes using 111 online as the first port of call for health needs, and only using 999 if it is a life-threatening emergency.
If we have not contacted you, please attend your appointment as planned. The NHS will contact you if your appointment needs to be rescheduled.

Ahead of the bank holiday weekend, the advice for anyone, whether staying at home or travelling to other areas is to:

Make sure you have ordered and collected any repeat medicines
Remember that your first port of call for GP care is your home practice, which will be able to provide online, phone and video consultations as well as arrange for prescriptions to be sent to any pharmacy you choose.
For more information on when to call 999 and when to go to A&E, you can visit the NHS UK website.

Our NHS at 75

There’s a month left for people to enter the ‘Our NHS at 75’ national photography competition and so far, 115 entries have been received. The five competition categories are – our people; our innovations; our environment; our care; our partners. For more information and terms and conditions please visit www.nhs75-fujifilm.com

Fujifilm NHS 75 group On the evening of the birthday, Wednesday 5 July, buildings and other iconic sites across the country will Light Up Blue to mark NHS75. The latest list of confirmed sites is here. Please email kevin.smith6@nhs.net if your organisation would like more details about this initiative, or to confirm that your site in the North East and Yorkshire region will take part in Light Up Blue.

Nearly 1,600 NHS staff have signed up to give a NHS75 school talk as part of our NHS Ambassadors programme. The initiative is open to staff from all levels and professions. NHS staff who are interested in becoming an ‘NHS Ambassador’ or schools who would like to arrange a talk, should visit: www.england.nhs.uk/NHS75talks

To celebrate the forthcoming 75th anniversary of the National Health Service, NHS England has teamed up with TeenTech to host events across the country to raise awareness of the wide range of digital, engineering and science careers in the NHS. TeenTech Festivals will run in each of the seven NHS England regions, culminating in a showcase day in December, where young people will share their ideas for how the NHS might look in the future.

For all the latest news about the 75th birthday, visit: www.england.nhs.uk/NHSBirthday.

The NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB)

Cathy Elliott The NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) will meet in public for the sixth time on Tuesday 16 May at The Shay Stadium, Halifax at 12.30.

People are asked to contact westyorkshire.ics@nhs.net before Monday 15 May at 9am if they would like to attend or submit questions about items on the agenda. They can also call 01924 317659 to submit questions or to book their place to attend.

People can also read the papers, or watch live online by visiting westyorkshire.icb.nhs.uk/meetings/integrated-care-board

[*NB. Please note the papers won’t be live on the website until Tuesday 9 May am, 2023].