To build on the successes of York’s vaccination rollout, city-wide testing and support for people who are shielding, City of York Council’s Executive will consider plans to further improve health and social care services across the city at a meeting on Thursday 18 March.
The proposals to establish a Health and Social Care Alliance for York have been led by a number of health and social care partners in the city, including the council, NHS commissioners and providers, and voluntary sector organisations.
The aim of the Alliance will be to strengthen health, care and public services in the city by building healthcare locally around residents, rather than around organisations. By doing so, the council and its partners can better tackle health inequalities which existed before COVID, but have been magnified by it, and improve the general health and wellbeing of the York population.
The proposals will also work to lock-in some of the positive work seen throughout the pandemic, which has been achieved by partners working in a more collaborative and effective manner due to the challenges of the pandemic. This work includes:
- supporting people with COVID-19 and spotting signs of deterioration through the COVID Hub Single Point of Access
- delivering city wide testing, tracing and outbreak management (for example with universities and colleges, or with care homes)
- supporting people access primary care, therapy and specialist nursing whilst shielding
- delivering an exemplary COVID vaccination effort with many partners contributing to a swift and very successful rollout of the vaccine so far.
The proposals have been developed in response to the recent publication of the Government’s ‘Integration and Innovation’ White Paper, which sets out a series of reforms to health and care which the Government intend to implement at the beginning of April 2022.
If approved, the proposals would see the York Health and Social Care Alliance run in shadow form during the 2021-22 financial year, in order to further develop governance and accountability structures. Once all partners have agreed to the yet-to-be-proposed terms of reference, the board will be formalised in 2022, when the new national legislation takes effect.
The Alliance membership will comprise different organisations involved in commissioning or delivering health and care in York:
- Vale of York CCG
- York Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
- Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV)
- Nimbuscare (Primary care services provider in York)
- City of York Council
- Community and Voluntary Services
- St Leonard’s Hospice
- York Schools and Academies Board
- Representatives of Primary Care networks.
Alison Semmence, Chief Executive of York CVS, said:
“We will be working within the Alliance to ensure the voice of citizens is instrumental in developing new services and improving existing ones. We are keen to link up the voluntary and community sector more with health and social care services so that people can receive the best possible care and support. We all have a part to play and I believe the York Health and Care Alliance will provide the opportunity for us to do things better, together.”
Councillor Keith Aspden, Leader of City of York Council, said:
“Throughout the pandemic, health and social care workers across the city have come together under incredibly challenging circumstances to care for and support residents during this difficult time. Now, the opportunity is there to build on this excellent work and develop healthcare in York around our residents, tailoring services in the city to local priorities.“With the Government’s intention to reform health and care services in 2022, the council and its partners are proposing to establish a new York Health and Care Alliance, so we can work to strengthen improve healthcare in the city and address the health issues that will make the biggest difference to residents’ lives.
“Residents will still be able to access healthcare in the same ways they always have, but we are hoping in the future, this new alliance will further improve the services residents receive and health outcomes across the city.”
Phil Mettam, Accountable Officer at NHS Vale of York CCG said:
“As health and care partners we have chosen to come together to support each other in taking bold collective action to help make the City of York a fairer, healthier place to live in.“The establishment of the York Health and Care Alliance will strengthen relationships and with the strategic direction and priorities of healthcare decided locally it will help address health issues that will make the biggest difference to residents’ lives.”
Prof. Mike Holmes, chair of Nimbuscare, said:
“As an ‘at scale’ provider of primary care services in York, Nimbuscare already has a strong local membership of 11 GP practices, working collaboratively. They are all passionate about delivering high quality local care for local people. We are also looking forward to working with other key partners in the city.
“During the pandemic we have seen the power and impact of collaboration – sharing expertise and services across the city has helped with the success of our vaccination programme.”
Simon Morritt, Chief Executive of York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said:
“The creation of the Health and Care Alliance is a positive opportunity to further strengthen how we work together across the city to improve health outcomes.”
Brent Kilmurray, Chief Executive of Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV), said:
“This is a great opportunity for organisations across York to come together to look at the needs of the local population and to work creatively as a system to improve the lives of local people.”
The full report will be published on Wednesday 10 March online ahead of being discussed at Executive on Thursday 18 March at 5:30pm.