Partnership working - the health prize for all
When we first sat down to discuss the Trust and NHS Croydon Clinical Commissioning Group working side-by-side to improve health in Croydon, we immediately spotted the opportunity within our grasp.
Croydon is a single local authority, with a single CCG, while the Trust provides hospital and community services. It is this which sits at the heart of partnership working proposals published today, through which we can transform patients services, increase staff opportunities and improve future of health.
Meeting with the CCG and Croydon Council this morning and inviting partners and people from across the borough to join us, our discussions continue the work started with the appointment of Joint Chief Nurse Elaine Clancy last month. She is leading nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals across the Trust and the CCG to improve the consistency of care and health outcomes. Hers it the first joint appointment at board level shared between the Trust and the CCG and we are now looking to bring together some other functions, removing duplication and freeing-up resources for the frontline.
What we are proposing is a first for Croydon and London, with agreed, shared targets to get the best possible spend for the Croydon pound. But what truly matters, is that by leading the way to more integrated care, working side-by-side with the local authority, GPs, mental health services and voluntary groups, we can do more for the specific needs of neighbourhoods across Croydon.
For example, these proposals will help us to deliver quality support and joined up care closer to home, as demonstrated by the new anticoagulant service at Purley War Memorial Hospital's GP Hub. One 90-year old patient who used to take two buses to hospital to get blood thinners, can use the new service with a pharmacist at the local NHS hub, avoiding a lengthy journey to get to the big Hospital.
Ours is a partnership with a clear, common purpose, to deliver the best for patients, staff and future health in Croydon. It will create a stronger, consistent voice for health, starting with a single leader for our two organisations.
We are perfectly placed to bring health services together. That's the prize, which benefits us all – patients, staff and neighbourhoods in Croydon. And we simply cannot afford to miss this opportunity.
You can read more here about the detail of how we will work together here.
Matthew Kershaw
Interim Chief Executive
Croydon Health Services NHS Trust