Dear all,

Our health and care system is facing a complex set of challenges. We need to spend more time focusing on supporting people to live happy, healthy lives by preventing illnesses where possible or identifying them early. We need to make services high quality, easy to access with shorter waiting times and fair across Greater Manchester, and we need to make the most of our money to bring the local NHS finances into balance.

It is important that we bring people on this journey with us and do what we can to inform the public on the challenges that we face. So this month we launch the public engagement exercise, an NHS Fit for the Future. This will run across all 10 Greater Manchester boroughs working with various voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE) and patient groups throughout autumn.

We need our full integrated care partnership to get behind this exercise and support in spreading the word, encouraging your own stakeholders to participate in the upcoming engagement opportunities. One of our greatest strengths has always been the way we all work together, and it is more important than ever before that we utilise this approach over the coming weeks.

Best wishes,

Paul

Paul Dennett

Chair, Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership Board

Back in April it was announced that NHS England wanted to work more closely with NHS Greater Manchester (NHS GM) through a process known as Enforcement Undertakings. Last month, our board formally accepted an arrangement to work more closely with NHS England to deliver a set of formalised agreed actions under one single improvement plan.

This is our opportunity to outline how we want NHS GM to look in the future, and how we are going to work together as an integrated care system to make further and faster progress to get us there.

On Monday 5 August, we will be launching a public engagement exercise, ‘An NHS Fit for the Future’, which will run until autumn. This programme will allow us to take the public along with us on the journey towards achieving our population health, performance, and financial goals; to give our staff, stakeholders and communities the opportunity to tell us what is important to them and what we should prioritise, and to increase awareness and understanding of the challenges we face.

We would value your support in promoting the launch of Fit for the Future and ongoing opportunities for how people can get involved. Next week we will be circulating a toolkit which will include details on how to get involved, social media assets, graphics and videos.

To find out more about Fit for the Future and get involved, visit the NHS GM website. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us via gmhscp.gm-stakeholders@nhs.net

At the latest NHS Greater Manchester Board meeting, there was an update on the Greater Manchester Primary Care Blueprint, which is our five-year plan for primary care.

General practice appointments are increasing, GP quality across Greater Manchester (GM) is tracking higher than the national average with the number of practices rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’, and the amount of eligible people using the NHS App is on the up.

The important role played by community pharmacists continues to expand with GM ranked the second highest performing integrated care system in the country delivering the national Pharmacy First programme.

Our Community Urgent Eyecare Service is another success with more than 55,000 patients helped with their urgent eye symptoms from over 200 optometry practices, reducing demand on GP and urgent care services where appropriate.

And in dentistry, the GM Dental Quality Access Scheme has delivered over 200,000 additional appointments at a time when we know dental capacity if operating under high pressure.

We have a positive story to tell. Our unified primary care system – the first of its kind for an integrated care system – is driving delivery of this blueprint.

Following a competitive appointment process, NHS Greater Manchester have successfully appointed a new Deputy Chief Executive for NHS Greater Manchester.

Colin Scales will be joining us mid September.

Colin is currently CEO at Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, a position held for the last nine years. He also holds the roles of Chair of the Cheshire and Merseyside People Board, Lead CEO for the Cheshire and Merseyside Virtual Ward Programme, Honorary Professor at the University of Central Lancashire, and member of the Cheshire and Merseyside Mental Health/Community Provider Collaborative (since 2021).

Colin is bringing with him a wealth of board level experience within complex regulatory environments for over 15 years, and he will be a true asset to NHS Greater Manchester playing a pivotal role leading the delivery of our strategy and day-to-day running of the ICB.

Speaking on his new appointment, Colin said: “It really is an honour to have been offered the position of Deputy Chief Executive for NHS GM. Bridgewater has been a very big part of my life and the decision to move on has been a difficult one, but it does feel like I’ve come full circle to have started my career in Bolton and now stepping into this role. The people behind Greater Manchester’s health and care system are the history makers leading the way with partnership working, laying the foundations for integrated care systems across the country and I cannot wait to join you and play my part in providing the highest standard of health and care services for the people of Greater Manchester.”

The Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance has appointed a new Medical Director, Miss Susannah Penney.

Susannah is a consultant head, neck and thyroid surgeon at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, a position she has held since 2012. She has also held the post of Associate Medical Director for the Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance since 2018, following three years as clinical lead for the head and neck cancer pathway.

Miss Penney replaces Professor David Shackley who has stepped down this summer after leading the Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance for the last 10 years.

Sarah Brennan has been appointed as the permanent Chief Operating Officer for Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh (WWL) Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

A pharmacist by background, Sarah will bring a wealth of knowledge to the role, having worked across the NHS and private sector. 

She has a particular interest in working with children and families, and has been heavily involved in working with children’s services and children’s specialist services, working to bring them together with local authority services and the community and voluntary sector.

The number of women in Greater Manchester smoking during pregnancy has fallen for the sixth consecutive year. 

The 1.7 percentage point decrease from 9.4% (around 9 in 100 pregnant women) in 2022-23 brings Greater Manchester closer to the England average of 7.4% and the national ambition set by NHS England of 6% or less.

The significant reduction is attributed to Greater Manchester’s Smokefree Pregnancy programme, a key component of Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership’s regional tobacco control strategy to make smoking history.

Parents and carers have a lot to think about ahead of a new school term - but it’s important that checking their child’s vaccinations are up to date is on the list of things to do.

Vaccinations offer the best protection from infectious diseases. Not being protected puts children at risk of being seriously unwell and sometimes results in children needing to go to hospital.

Find out what vaccinations your child needs before going back to school on our website.

As whooping cough cases continue to rise in the city region, NHS Greater Manchester is calling for pregnant women and parents of young children to ensure they are fully vaccinated amid a decline in vaccine uptake.

Since the beginning of 2024, Greater Manchester has seen the number of whooping cough cases steadily increasing, with 400 probable cases and 126 possible cases. There are a number of reasons for this, including the falling number of pregnant women and children under five being fully vaccinated.

Over the past 10 years, the number of children in Greater Manchester receiving all of their whooping cough vaccinations and boosters by the age of five has fallen from 97.5% in 2012-2013, to an average of 81.82% at the end of 2023. During January-March 2024, only 52.9% of pregnant women chose to have the whooping cough vaccination.

During World Breastfeeding Week (1-7 August) we remind people about the importance of breastfeeding and how the Anya app is supporting people every day.

This year the theme is ‘Closing the gap: breastfeeding support for all’.

Breastfeeding support comes in many forms – from staff welcoming breastfeeding in a local café to helpful advice from a health worker or maternity protections from the government.

We can all help ensure people who breastfeed feel able to, anytime, anywhere.

Find out more about how the Anya app can support breastfeeding on our website.

Some of the best and most innovative care in the country for people living with dementia is being delivered right here in Greater Manchester. Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust (NCA) has just launched its latest acute medical unit for people living with dementia by transforming part of an existing ward at Salford Royal Hospital into a more appropriate environment for them.

An activity room has been created so patients can enjoy arts and crafts with other patients, friends and family, and there is a direct pathway from A&E. Patients living with dementia have disproportionately poor outcomes in hospital, deteriorating physically and mentally, and the changes on ward L6 are designed to reverse this.

The unit is the third of its kind across the NCA’s four hospitals and follows the successful trial of a similar initiative at Fairfield General Hospital, in Bury, which was part of the Discharge Integration Frontrunner programme.

Around 100 health and social care professionals from across Greater Manchester shared ideas at an event focused on getting patients home from hospital faster and improving emergency care for people living with dementia.

Attendees listened to teams who have been involved in NHS England’s Discharge Integration Frontrunner programme, whose innovative work has led to:

• 7,000 patients being discharged quicker
• 94% of people living with dementia who would have gone into a care home after emergency treatment are now going home
• reduced readmission rates for people living with dementia who needed emergency care
• positive feedback from families and carers

Teams from localities discussed their own experiences of discharges and caring for people living with dementia at the event in Bury, with a view to creating a consistent approach across the city region.

Read more about the Frontrunner programme here and watch short films about the test projects here.

The Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust (NCA) is leading the way in the cleaning of surgical instruments, making it the first Trust in the UK to implement an innovative piece of equipment known as the BICARmed CleanBox.

James Buckley, quality manager at The Royal Oldham Hospital, said: “We are proud to be the first sterile service in the UK to implement a CleanBox. This new-to-market technology equips us with a pioneering, efficient and eco-friendly solution for the decontamination of surgical instruments. It delivers a rapid cleaning treatment superior to the traditional manual techniques previously available to our profession.

“This not only helps us to better-meet patient demand but improves safety for our technicians and increases the potential lifespan of the Trust’s medical device inventory.”

The pioneering technology was initially conceived in Italy for the cleaning of Formula 1 components but has since been applied to healthcare.

Rochdale nurse Jake Riley, has been crowned the borough's clinical champion in recognition of his outstanding contribution to transforming community mental health care.

Jake is senior mental health practitioner for Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trusts' primary care network - a group of GP practices working together across Littleborough, Milnrow, Newhey, and Wardle. (Jake pictured left with the Mayor of Rochdale)

He played a key role in developing the new living well team in this area, which forms part of a wider programme of transformation across the borough - and his hard work and commitment saw him nominated for an award from the Rochdale Health Alliance Primary Care Academy.

Read the full article to find out about how Jake reacted to his nomination and a story from a patient he cares for.

Congratulations to the team from South Wigan Medical Practice who completed the recent 100km Manchester to Blackpool charity cycle challenge, raising money for their local hospice.

What started out as just an idea, quickly became reality when they signed up for the gruelling ride.

The team of four GPs and a practice nurse had varying degrees of bike experience - from one who had already done a charity ride to another who had never ridden on roads. But once they’d committed, they all started training, building up their distances over a few weeks. (Pictured left to right - Adam Jolles - GP, Julia Stansfield, (Adam’s wife), Nikesh Vallabh - GP, Janet Gallagher - practice nurse, Charlotte Luke - GP.)

As hundreds of thousands of NHS-Galleri trial blood test appointments across England come to a close, the Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance is thanking the 20,000 participants in Greater Manchester along with community organisations, for supporting the NHS-Galleri trial – the world's largest research trial of a multi-cancer early detection blood test.

Mobile clinics have visited locations across the region, to collect blood samples from volunteers taking part in the NHS-Galleri trial. This month marks the last blood sample collection appointments for the trial, concluding three rounds of blood sample appointments for participants.

The Cancer Alliance was selected along with seven other regions to support the trial. Around 140,000 volunteers enrolled from many different socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds across England.

Read more on the GM Cancer Alliance website.

From 1 September 2024, Night buses will run on the V1 and 36 connecting Manchester with Leigh and Bolton via Salford as part of a pilot for 24-hour transport in parts of Greater Manchester.

This is a significant step in creating a Bee Network that supports the region’s night-time economy and those who work within it, from hospitality staff to health and logistics workers.

The V1 and 36 have been chosen due to their proximity to key nighttime economy employment sites, such as hotels, bars and clubs, hospitals and distribution centres. They also serve areas with high numbers of people less likely to own a car and more likely to use public transport, including students.

Tickets will be the same price as daytime services, to ensure that services are an affordable option for both visitors and workers of the night-time economy. A single adult ticket costs £2.

More information about the pilot is available in the press release.

Safer Roads Greater Manchester Partnership are encouraging drivers to join the free Safer Driving for Longer course. Additional course dates have been added to the programme, with dates available up until end of September.

The course helps drivers to reflect on their own driving, increase confidence in their ability and to consider efficient alternatives to driving. 

It is available to Greater Manchester residents aged 55+. The course will take place in Trafford and location details will be shared at the time of booking. More information about the courses and how to book is available online at beenetwork.com/safer-driving-course.

NHS Greater Manchester’s Director of Organisational Development and Culture, John Herring, recently won ‘Leader of the Year’ at the Greater Manchester Good Employment Awards. (NHS GM Chief Executive Mark Fisher pictured left, John Herring pictured right).

John champions work that is underpinned by a commitment to equality, fair pay, and giving Greater Manchester Health and Care colleagues a say in how their workplace is run and has been pivotal in not only supporting NHS GM to become a member of the Good Employment Charter but leading the movement to improve employment standards across all health and care organisations in Greater Manchester.

John said: “I am overwhelmed to win the leader of the year award and I think it's vital to recognise that this award is testament to the fantastic team I work with and was certainly not won on my own. Good leadership for me is about creating safety, inspiring trust and cooperation and ultimately ensuring people feel secure, valued, and heard.”

Winners of the Greater Manchester Health and Care Champion Awards 2024 were celebrated as our health and care heroes were announced. Over 500 people were nominated for 13 categories including Community Champion, Volunteer Champion, and a new category Team of The Year. Finalists attended the sponsored ceremony held at the Science and Industry Museum, hosted by ex-Blue Peter television presenter Mwaksy Mudenda, to celebrate the winners.

During the night there were plenty of inspirational stories shared, really highlighting the strength, determination and dedication of all those who work within the health and care workforce or community both employed and unwaged.

Amongst the winners was retired doctor Maeve Keaney, who established the REACHE (Refugee and Asylum Seekers Centre for Healthcare Professionals Education) project in 2003 - she was given a standing ovation as she received the Lifetime Achievement Award. REACHE opened an education centre at Salford Royal Hospital to support refugee and asylum seeker doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals work in the NHS.

Read more about the winners on our website.

A new pilot to provide meals to parents staying in hospitals with their children has launched in England.

Sophie’s Legacy and NHS England have rolled out the project following an initial pilot in 2023. From July, 15 more hospitals have now joined the programme funded by Sophie’s Legacy, including Royal Bolton Hospital and Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. The project will run for up to twelve weeks, during which each hospital will offer at least two meals per day, to the parent/carer.

Access to food and drink is not just a comfort but a necessity for parents dealing with the stress of having a child in the hospital. By ensuring parents' basic needs are met and stress levels are reduced, parents can participate in their child’s care and engage more effectively with medical professionals, leading to better decision-making about treatment options and plans. Ultimately, providing better outcomes for the child and enhancing parents' sense of control during a challenging time.

Summer in Greater Manchester can be great fun - warmer weather (hopefully!), brilliant events, a chance to get outdoors, and an opportunity to make the most of all our city region has to offer. But we know summer can be tough too.

That’s why NHS Greater Manchester is developing social media assets and messaging to help residents stay healthy, safe, and well this summer. If people know where to go, they can find the help and support they need more quickly – so more time for summer fun (and hopefully less pressure on NHS services).

In mid-July we issued a communications pack focused on the school holidays with advice, information and support on topics including staying safe in the sun, local health services, and food banks. During August we will follow this up with resources relating to the upcoming bank holiday, support for exam results day, and catching up on vaccines ahead of the new school term. This second pack will be shared with partner organisations and uploaded to the Campaign Resources Centre on the NHS GM website as soon as it’s ready.

The quickest and easiest way to support our Get To Know Where To Go (GTKWTG) campaign is by sharing #GTKWTG posts on your social media channels. If you don’t already follow us, you'll find us here:

Facebook @NHSGreaterManchester       X @NHS_GM     Instagram @nhs_gm