Welcome to the August issue of The Triangle.

As we reflect on the summer of 2024, it stands out as a remarkable period, marked by the highs of the Paris Olympics, significant political change with the General Election, and, unfortunately, a troubling wave of civil unrest that has affected communities across the country.

While we will look back fondly on those sporting achievements, the recent shocking scenes of unrest have provided a sobering reminder of the racism and hatred that sadly exist in communities across the UK today. 

Integrated Care Boards such as ours were founded on a desire to work together across boundaries with organisations and communities to improve health and care outcomes for all our citizens.

This principle remains central to everything we do and will continue to guide us as we work together to build a better future for everyone.

Our work towards this vision is very much reflected in the content of this month’s issue of The Triangle and in the positive developments underway to support communities and improve health and care.

We look at these issues in more depth, including the great news that a new BSW ICB grant programme will help to reduce health inequalities across our communities and also how a new £20m mental health unit will provide care and support for people with a learning disability or autism.

We’ll also be out and about in BSW over the coming weeks providing free blood pressure checks at community and sporting events, helping more people in the local area understand the risk of hypertension, preventing ill-health and making it easier for people to take control of their own health and wellbeing.

There are more details of this positive work in this issue of The Triangle. Thank you for reading and please do pass on any feedback to bswicb.partnership@nhs.net.