The integrated care pioneer programme supports 25 pioneers who are developing and testing new ways to deliver person-centred integrated health and social care services across England. As part of the new care models programme, the pioneers have been working on addressing the care and quality gap identified in the NHS Five Year Forward View.

Earlier today (22 September) they came together at the Pioneer Assembly to explore how they have been tackling some of the challenges around workforce. Leeds Pioneer hosted the Assembly and Rebecca Charlwood, Chair of their Health and Wellbeing Board talks about the work they have been doing in Leeds.

Leeds is the second largest city in the UK outside London, with a diverse population of over 770,000 people. We experience significant health, wealth and wellbeing inequalities, for example, travel just four miles between the areas of Scarcroft and Seacroft and life expectancy for the local population reduces by around seven years. So we have some big challenges, but these are alongside some fantastic opportunities and assets , including world leading health and care practice and research.

Earlier this year we launched the city’s new Health and Wellbeing Strategy , setting out a bold ambition to make Leeds the best city in which to live a healthy, happy life. Our strategy has five outcomes, 12 priorities and a selection of performance measures to guide and monitor our progress. We’ve been using the national focus on sustainability and transformation to bring our strategy to life, developing clear, joined-up plans, alongside our West Yorkshire partners, so we all understand the changes we need to make.

At the centre of all this work to plan for the future, we’re making sure we keep our focus fixed firmly on people. In Leeds we believe wellbeing starts with people. By that, we mean it is the conversations, connections and relationships between people that shape our experiences of health and care, both through the services we receive and within our local communities. We want to nurture a health and care system where people have more of the right kinds of conversations to unlock the most empowering solutions across a whole range of situations and problems.

Emphasising a ‘people centred’ culture and approach resonates with my own professional experiences. As a mental health support worker earlier in my career and later a UK compliance advisor for a national charity, I saw extensively how important it is that people get the right type of support at the right time, that it is tailored to their personal story and wherever possible centred around their homes and communities, rather than institutions.

With this focus on people and community in mind, I’ve been really encouraged to learn more about Leeds’ role in the integrated pioneer programme.

During the Assembly we talked about the journey we are on towards more integrated, people centred services in the community, such as our integrated neighbourhood teams and the new models of care we are developing in our localities and care homes, providing high quality, responsive services. We also talked about a key enabling factor – and the main theme of this Assembly – workforce. I am excited to share our approach to strengths based social work, and to hear from others about their work to create and support a more integrated health and care workforce.

We’re bringing together initiatives such as strengths based social work, health coaching, restorative practice and social prescribing, to create a model for doing things with people, rather than just doing things to them or for them. Our aim is to help people find their own strengths and solutions working with their families and their communities wherever this is possible and the right thing to do. We still have a long way to go to embed this, but by taking a whole city approach to culture, recruitment and career development we believe it is the right way forward.

The Assembly was a chance for quality conversations about our experiences towards developing high quality, joined up, person-centred care. Whilst each area faces unique challenges, many of the issues we need to address are similar. Leeds always welcomes the opportunity to share what we’ve learnt and to learn from others. This opportunity for collaboration and improving together – a ‘working with’ approach between different areas of the country – will be vital if we’re going to find the best ways to meet the current and future needs of the people we serve.