Problem
The impact of political, socio-economic, environmental and other external influences in recent times has led to unprecedented demand in access to health and care services in the UK, and our health system is under great strain. The coronavirus pandemic starkly exposed health inequalities within our society and we know that urgent work is needed to tackle the wider socioeconomic and structural inequities that drive them to allow for a more sustainable health and care system.
These inequalities are driven by factors which are largely out of an individual’s control. Poor quality social housing, fuel poverty, food poverty and lack of access to public spaces, education, good jobs, and transport are some of the social and economic determinants of health in which the NHS, government, local authorities, policy makers and institutions all have a pivotal role in
determining successful health and wellbeing outcomes for their populations.
Nevertheless, responsibility for good health cannot lie solely with society, individuals need asense of purpose, of having freedoms, flexibility, choices, and control over their lives, of being involved in shaping their care and recognising that they are acknowledged and heard.We found innumerable examples of great transformational work across our sub-region, but it
often took place within organisational silos, and the community or patient voice was sometimes
lost.
The key challenge clearly lay in galvanising collective system action and ensuring that the individual components of the health and care system collectively recognised and built upon their knowledge of what is particularly relevant to their local communities and patient populations to deliver change at the necessary scale and pace.
Aim
We aimed to develop an anchor framework to align the great work taking place across Cheshire and Merseyside (C&M) ICS. This work includes generating social value, reducing health inequalities, tackling climate change, the Core20PLUS5 approach and enacting the Marmot priorities alongside of course, the work undertaken as anchor institutions. The alignment of the
work of the ICB, public health, VCFSE organisations, local authorities and other system partners would enable one clear delivery pathway, provide increased accountability and give us all a clearer focus along our anchor journeys.
You can read and download the full project report HERE
You can learn more about Social Value and the social value charter HERE and HERE