Welcome to this latest newsletter from the Together We’re Better health and care partnership.
The approval by the six Clinical Commissioning Groups of the timeline for our next phases of engagement marks an important point in our journey and is reflected in the momentum that is continuing to build within the partnership.
There’s a lot of work happening between now and Spring 2019, when we expect to launch our next phase of engagement with local communities, groups and health and care staff.
Our partners are already getting on with developing new and exciting ways of working together. A great example of how system working makes a difference to patients is Integrated Care Teams - with frontline primary, community and mental health staff working alongside social care professionals and the voluntary and independent sector to coordinate their approach and improve the health of the community they serve.
The next few months promise to be as exciting as they are busy and I look forward to sharing many more examples of a local health and care system that is working together to improve the lives of local people.
As winter fast approaches, I'm delighted that all our partners have contributed to developing a very robust winter plan for the local health and care system. Extra capacity has been built in, with 170,000 extra GP appointments planned and additional escalation beds being prepared. We also reported last month on the £8.8m of extra Government money for University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) to fund two new modular wards at Royal Stoke University Hospital.
Winter is always an extremely challenging time, but our Health and Care Transformation Board has welcomed the reassurance that the winter plan has been tested to enable us to deliver the best care we can.
Before I go, I would like to congratulate our Chair Sir Neil McKay, who has also been appointed as Chair for our neighbouring STP - Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin. I think this will be a very positive step for both STPs and I look forward to seeing what more we can learn and share with each other.
Simon Whitehouse, Director
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