Welcome to the January issue of The Triangle
The first few weeks of 2023 have certainly already presented an enormous number of challenges for the health and care partners that make up the BSW Together Integrated Care System.
We have seen our services face unprecedented pressures as we work together to address demand for services, rising covid and flu numbers, strep A infections among children and young people, norovirus infections and the industrial action currently taking place from members of nursing and ambulance crew unions.
While things are challenging and are likely to remain so for some time, I am pleased to report that our system has worked exceptionally well together and, through leaning into these challenges, we have done much to address these issues and avoid wider problems.
We would also, as always, like to pass on our thanks both to our colleagues across the whole of the BSW health and care system who have worked so hard over the past few weeks to ensure and to the public for using our services wisely over the past few weeks.
One of the ways we have addressed these issues is through the introduction of our NHS@Home Virtula Wards service which is a joint initiative provided across BSW by local health and care organisations to support suitable patients to receive the same high level of care, assessment, monitoring and treatment at home or their place of residence, as they would as an inpatient on a hospital ward. You can read more about this in this issue of The Triangle.
Despite these pressures, our system partners and leadership teams have continued to focus on development and the role of our ICS in our wider communities.
With this in mind, we continue, with public help, to develop our plans. We begin 2023 looking confidently to the future and, as such, have developed a draft Integrated Care Strategy. This is an important document which will outline our plan to deliver improved health and care outcomes for our population, suggest ways to seek value for money and reduce costs, enhance productivity and tackle health inequalities. This is being developed on behalf of the Integrated Care Partnership and will be presented for formal adoption in Spring of 2023. Again, you can read more about this here.
Thank you for taking the time read this issue of The Triangle. Please let us know what you think this newsletter, and also if there is anything you would like to see us cover in future issues by emailing bswicb.partnership@nhs.net
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