GOVERNMENT SHORTLISTS CHESHIRE PARTNERSHIP TO PIONEER INTEGRATION OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE SERVICES

 

Partners across Cheshire’s health and social care services have been shortlisted by Government to become one of the country’s ten ‘pioneers’ in the integration of vital care and support services.

Cheshire East Council and Cheshire West and Chester, plus four clinical commissioning groups across the county, will discover in September whether they have been chosen to create a new breed of user friendly and financially efficient models.

Cheshire East Council is already one of a handful of authorities selected to work on the groundbreaking community budgets initiative - a revolutionary shift in the way public services are delivered in England.

And if successful, the new bid would build on the strong local partnerships already in place to join up services, providing a much more efficient, responsive and customer-focussed service for local people.

Cheshire’s health and social care bid recognises that a ‘one size fits all’ approach would not work across the diverse urban and rural areas of the county or best serve its 700,000 population.

The proposed model will be tailored to people’s needs and will take account of local and organisational priorities.

Council Leader Councillor Michael Jones said:  “It is fantastic that Cheshire East Council, with its partners Cheshire West and Chester Council and the four GP led clinical commissioning groups across Cheshire, have been short listed in its bid for this ground breaking work.

“All partners care passionately about our residents’ health and wellbeing. There is exciting work already underway across Cheshire exploring how health and social care models can better meet the needs of our residents. This Pioneer bid, if successful, will add momentum to that work.”

Paul Bowen, GP and clinical chair of NHS Eastern Cheshire CCG, said:  “I’m pleased that the fantastic work currently going on in Eastern Cheshire through our Caring Together programme has been recognised and incorporated into the Cheshire Pioneer bid. 

“The health and social care integration projects developing across Cheshire are all built on innovative relationships between our communities, patients, GPs, hospitals, community and mental health trusts and councils. 

“We are committed to sharing with our colleagues across Cheshire, and nationally, the learning experiences gained through our ultimately successful drive to achieving Caring Together”.

Dr. Andrew Wilson, GP and Chair of NHS South Cheshire CCG, said: “We are really pleased that the Pioneer bid has been short listed nationally; it's a great example of health, social care and local authority services working together to improve the lives of our patients living in local communities.

“We are currently planning for integration of services clustered around GP practices in South Cheshire to better suit the needs of patients. If successful, the Pioneer bid will support us in this exciting work.”