Welcome to the August edition of the Triangle 

Welcome to the August edition of The Triangle  – our newsletter about the work of Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Together, our Integrated Care System (ICS).

At the beginning of July our Integrated Care Board (ICB) was established as part of a national plan to provide better joined-up care, reduce health inequalities, enhance productivity and value for money, while also supporting broader social and economic development.

We marked the official start of our ICB with a meeting in public to formally appoint Board members,  establish our committees and approve required policies, strategies and governance arrangements. The meeting was focused mainly on the necessary formalities of establishing a new organisation and we are pleased to report strong attendance from members of the public, keen to witness the start of our new ICB. You can read more about our inaugural meeting in this issue of The Triangle and also find out when we are holding our next meeting.

It is now just over a month after the formation of our ICB and, although we are very much at the beginning of a long journey, things are starting to feel different as we look to the future with confidence.

We have welcomed a number of new senior leaders to our ICB Board who are ready to face the challenges and opportunities ahead as we work in partnership with local hospitals, Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) groups, local authorities and other organisations in a truly integrated way.

We are looking forward to working with all of these people and organisations, embracing new perspectives and ways of working to improve health and care services and outcomes for local people.

In this issue of The Triangle we share a short film explaining the work of BSW ICS and hear from Gill May, the ICB’s Chief Nurse, on her vision for the ICS. We also look at an example of the way our joint approach to health and care is taking shape and how our hospitals have been working together as well as the first in a series of articles offering an overview of ICS partners, starting with the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. We also look at the various ways that you can currently get involved in the ICB and have your say.

Thank you and, as always, please do let us know what you think of this newsletter and about any topics you would like to see covered in future issues.

Sue Harriman,

Chief Executive Officer, Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board

Stephanie Elsy, 

Chair, Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board