West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership (WY HCP), which includes NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (NHS WY ICB), has launched two important plans to support the 2.4 million people living across the area.
With the passing of the Health and Care Act 2022, there is a requirement for integrated care systems like the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership to develop an integrated health and social care strategy, and for integrated care boards to develop a joint forward plan to deliver the NHS components of the strategy.
Building on people’s views on how its ambitions for the NHS will be achieved in a new joint forward plan for the area, the strategy and plan are available to view on the website.
Co-produced in partnership with colleagues from across all health and care sectors in West Yorkshire, they have been developed from Healthwatch engagement, local involvement activities, views from meetings held in public via the local health and wellbeing boards, West Yorkshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the NHS WY ICB and WY HCP Board.
A public consultation between January and March 2023 highlighted the importance of access to care, including GPs and dentists, as well as breaking down health inequalities, better joined up care, workforce recruitment and ‘getting the basics right’.
The demand for health and care has been rising.
This is the challenge we must address by focusing on preventing ill health, proactively supporting people to stay well at home, and by arranging services so that local people can receive care from the right people in the most appropriate setting. Whilst challenges are significant, we believe that working together at all levels is the best way of tackling them.
Having the Joint Forward Plan will help us keep focused on what matters to our staff, local people and West Yorkshire’s communities as we move forward with our health and care ambitions together. You can read the WY HCP Integrated Care Strategy on their website along with the Joint Forward Plan.