Posted on: 8 January 2021
The NHS England/NHS Improvement Board Meeting in November 2020 set out the direction of travel for integrated care systems, which West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership is also known as, and proposed options for legislative change to support this. Much of the vision set out in the document fits well with the approach we take in West Yorkshire and Harrogate and the future ambitions we have agreed in terms of how we want to work. There is a strong emphasis on provider collaboration, the role of partnership working at place level (Bradford District and Craven, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield) and close partnership with local councils. There also appears to be permissiveness and flexibility in the approach outlined which can be tailored to local system’s needs – which are welcomed.
Our Partnership proudly brings together the NHS, commissioners, providers, local authorities, the voluntary community sector enterprise and Healthwatch, at a place and a West Yorkshire and Harrogate level. All, including local political leaders and chairs of health and wellbeing boards, are influential members of our Partnership Board. Their collective strength provides greater opportunities to deliver on our ambitions, reducing future demand for healthcare by working to ensure that people are given the best start in life, with every chance to remain healthy and age well.
Our Five Year Plan, co-produced and published in March 2020, and our Improving Population Health Annual Report launched in December 2020, sets out the difference we are collectively making. Both were authored with an approach that sees the NHS plans as one chapter in a bigger story that encompasses the wider determinants of health and harnesses the contribution of all.
We were invited to submit our response to NHS England/NHS Improvement by Friday 8 January 2021.
There was also a response submitted by the following on behalf of the Partnership:
- The Joint Committee of Clinical Commissioning Groups
- West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts
- The Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism Collaborative
- The West Yorkshire and Harrogate Clinical Forum
You can also read the response from the West Yorkshire Joint Health and Overview Scrutiny Committee, who scrutinise the work of the Partnership, as well as constructively challenge the work we do:
To find out more about what this means for the Partnership you can also read:
- NHS England/NHS Improvement proposals for future arrangements by Councillor Tim Swift, Chair of our Partnership Board and Rob Webster, CEO Lead for the Partnership (published December 2020)
- Think piece on the NHS legislation proposals from Cllr Tim Swift, Rob Webster and Robin Tuddenham, published on the Local Government Association website (published December 2020)