Thursday 30 November 2023
Health and care partners in Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire awarded Integrated Care System status Health and care organisations in Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire (BSW) are set to work in an even more joined up way after NHS England and Improvement (NHS E I)said they had met the criteria to become an Integrated Care System (ICS).
An ICS is a way of working across health and care organisations that allows partners to work closer together to take collective responsibility for the health and wellbeing of populations across large areas.
Across BSW, hospitals, GP surgeries, community care providers, local authorities, a mental health trust, an ambulance trust and voluntary sector organisations have been working together since 2016 as part of the BSW Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP). The considerable progress made through joint working, especially throughout the Covid pandemic, has now been formally recognised by NHS England and Improvement through official designation as an ICS – working as the BSW Partnership.
Tracey Cox, Senior Responsible Officer for the BSW Partnership said:
“I am delighted that the dedicated approach to breaking down barriers and working together across the BSW Partnership had been recognised by NHS E I through our appointment as an Integrated Care System.
“We have come a long way as a (now former) sustainability and transformation partnership and more recently our successful joint working in response to Covid-19 has shown that we can achieve great things by working together for the health and wellbeing of our local people.
“We’re confident we can build on our solid foundations and are looking forward to the next chapter in our development as a truly integrated health and care system when we can continue to address health inequalities, improve the health and wellbeing of local people and deliver value for money.”
Working together as the BSW Partnership, health and care partners will prioritise issues that matter to local communities as well as managing health and care provision during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Collectively this will help the partnership to achieve its vision of ‘working together to empower people to lead their best life’.
The BSW Partnership will do this through its five key ambitions:
Stephanie Elsy, Independent Chair of the BSW Partnership said:
“The BSW Partnership’s designation is recognition of the progress we have made together in providing joined up care - especially during the national Covid-19 emergency. I would like to thank everybody involved for their incredible hard work, commitment and dedication in getting us to this stage of our development.
“Becoming an ICS will mean local people will begin to see health and care services work in a more joined up way, meaning that they only have to tell their story once and will receive care better tailored to their individual needs.
“One of the first priorities for the BSW Partnership is to increase engagement with the public and other stakeholders, so that everyone understands the work of the partnership and is kept updated about developments and has the opportunity to get involved in our plans.”
Members of the BSW Partnership Integrated Care System are as follows:
04 December 2020
Our staff at Salisbury District Hospital have long been well regarded for the quality of care and treatment they provide for our patients and for their innovation, commitment and professionalism. This has been recognised in a wide range of achievements and it is reflected in our award of NHS Foundation Trust status. This is afforded to hospitals that provide the highest standards of care.
