BSW ICB celebrates first anniversary

BSW Together Integrated Care Board has celebrated its first twelve months of working together to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for local people.

To mark the special anniversary, we caught up with some our executive team to ask them what they think has been the greatest achievement of BSW ICB over the past year.

Watch our film here: BSW ICB first anniversary

There have been numerous examples of joint working since last July which highlight why the role of BSW Together ICS is so important, from tackling winter pressures, to helping people get home from hospital more quickly. You can read more about these here.

New state of the art health centre in Devizes

Opened in February, it’s one of the first integrated health care centres in the region. A leading NHS net zero building with an energy EPC rating of A+, which utilises green technology, such as heat pumps and solar panels, to generate electricity and heat to serve the building.

Integrated Care Strategy sets out health and care ambitions for BSW

The strategy sets out BSW Together’s ambition as partners working across the health, social care, voluntary and other sectors to support the people of BSW to live happier and healthier for longer.

Acute Health Alliance

NHS England announced its new Provider Collaborative Innovators scheme earlier this year. BSW AHA is the only collaborative from the South West to form the first wave of innovators, working closely together to tackle local challenges, improve patient outcomes, and enhance resilience.

Integration courses launched in India to attract nurses to work in BSW

Designed with Somerset NHS Trust and Avon and Wiltshire Partnership (AWP) this face-to-face course includes modules on mental health to help increase local nurses’ knowledge of nursing in the UK before they join AWP on completion. BSW ICB is also working with partners in India to establish career coaches in universities and teaching hospitals to further encourage nurses and others to come to work in the NHS.

Launch of Care Coordination Centre to provide greater experience of care for patients

Co-located health and care staff from across BSW are based at Great Western Hospital. Removing organisation boundaries enables better coordinated and joined-up services for local people at home, in the community and hospital.

BSW plan to tackle climate emergency given green light

The partner organisations that make up the BSW Together Integrated Care System (ICS) have published a plan to reduce the environmental and carbon impact of health and care services, with a view to achieving net zero by 2040 for direct emissions, and 2045 for wider emissions.

New centre launched in Swindon to better coordinate patient care

A coordination centre at Great Western Hospitals (GWH) NHS Foundation Trust in Swindon is bringing a wide range of health and care staff together to better coordinate patient care. The Swindon Integrated Care Alliance Coordination Centre physically integrates colleagues from the BSW health and care system, removing organisational boundaries so that they can better coordinate care, from the moment a patient dials 111, 999 or walks through the hospital doors.

Working together to help pregnant mums stop smoking

As part of its goal to tackle health inequalities in our communities, BSW Together has invested over £210,000 into treating tobacco dependency and helping local people stop smoking and live healthier lives. Part of that funding has been allocated to a project to help pregnant mums in Salisbury to stop smoking.