Find out more about your local health and care services at the first NHS South East London board meeting on 1 July 2022
On 1 July 2022, South East London Integrated Care Board (ICB) will be established. As a newly created statutory body, the ICB will now support and build upon existing health and care partnerships established by our Integrated Care System (ICS) – Our Healthier South East London. The ICS was established in 2019 and continues as the partnership that brings together the full range of organisations responsible for publicly funded health and care services across our six boroughs.
The ICB will oversee the work of the ICS NHS body and make decisions on allocating resources and planning services. The ICB will drive the four purposes of the ICS (to improve outcomes, tackle inequalities, enhance productivity and support social and economic development) through partnership, underpinned by principles of engagement, participation, subsidiarity and delegation. Ultimately, the ICB engages, convenes, understands, delegates and enables improvement.
The board will be meeting in public for the first time on Friday 1 July from 12.15pm at Coin Street Neighbourhood Centre (108 Stamford St, London SE1 9NH), and members of the public are invited to observe.
From 12.15pm, members of the public will be able to join a public open forum and the formal meeting starts at 1pm. The meeting will be an opportunity to hear from members of the board, learn more about the ICB and the broader ICS and ask questions.
ICB Chief Executive Officer Designate Andrew Bland said:
“There are more than 1.9 million people living across our six boroughs. Our communities are diverse and vibrant, and people face different challenges or need different services depending on their circumstances.
“We know that local people have different experiences and health outcomes based on where they live and other factors including their gender, sexual orientation and ethnicity. Our current health and care services were not always designed in a way to meet these needs. Most services focused on treating people when they got sick, rather than helping people to stay healthy in the first place. Services that help people with their physical health are often separate to other services that provide care and support, including mental health and social care services.
“By working together, we can intervene faster and earlier to keep people well, making better use of specialist skills and equipment. We can offer more joined up support for people facing significant challenges. This way, we can address problems faster and develop more effective solutions for local people, whether they are new parents or older people needing care. Local people are at the heart of our plans.”
Richard Douglas, ICS Chair Designate said:
“Integrated care means partnership working – it is about giving people the support they need, joined up across local councils, the NHS, and other partners including social care providers, voluntary and community sector and charities.
“We have been working together to meet the needs of our communities for decades, and during the pandemic we further demonstrated our ability to work effectively across health, care and the voluntary sector. Our communities saw directly the benefits in vaccinations, shielding and elective care.
“This is a huge opportunity to improve care for people, whether that’s in their neighbourhood, borough or across south east London. It also means we can better address health inequalities, which are unfair and systematic differences in health between different groups of people.”
How to get involved
Due to the capacity of the venue, the number of attendees may need to be limited. If you would like to attend the board meeting, please contact us on Selccg.questions@nhs.net by 5pm Monday 27 June.
Members of the public are welcome to submit questions in advance of the meeting. Please email selccg.questions@nhs.net with your questions before 5pm on Monday 27 June. Questions received after this time may have to be responded to following the meeting.
The agenda will cover:
- Introduction to the ICB and board members
- What working as an ICS means in south east London
- Vision, purpose and objectives
- Delivering through Local Care Partnerships
- Operating plans 2022/23
- Taking Action – Children and Young People
- Engaging on future plans
- Public questions
David Bradley, Partner Member (Mental Health) NHS South East London ICB and Chief Executive of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust said:
“Working in partnership will support us to drive improvements for people, carers and their families who use health and social care in south east London.
“Mental ill-health impacts one in four people at some point in their life, and there is a growing need for mental health support following the Covid-19 pandemic. Coming together as a collective will help us intervene faster and more effectively by ensuring resources are prioritised and help to meet our communities’ needs better.”
Folake Segun, Director of South East London Healthwatch, said:
“From speaking with local people, I know that many face unfair differences when accessing care and support. Health and care services could be better designed to meet the needs of local people. Recently, we have heard that the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted these unfair differences, but the stark reality is that these differences have always been there.
“By working together, the ICS can offer more joined-up support to people. This means that if you need support from your GP, a social worker and a housing officer, they will work seamlessly together to make sure that you get the help and support that you need, when you need it.
“The ICS also has a real opportunity to reach out to communities they have engaged with and share how their feedback has contributed to improvements in health and care. It is also an opportunity to test ideas and to understand whether changes to health and care services are working for them.”
Stuart Rowbotham, ICB Bexley Place Executive Director added:
“The launch of the Integrated Care System is good news for South East Londoners and the communities that make up each borough because it brings decisions about health and care services so much closer to them. Each of the six boroughs have a Local Care Partnership (LCP) which has delegated budgets and responsibilities for health and care services delivered in the community – and all LCPs have committed to making sure that local people have a say about the big decisions made about their health and care services. I can’t wait to get started.”
Let’s talk health and care in south east London
To continue to improve services so they work for local people, there will be further opportunities for local people and communities to shape this important work by sharing their experiences and views of health and care. Find out how you can get involved: at letstalkhealthandcareselondon.org