10.03.20
South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw ICS sets out £129m Five Year Plan
Outlining its plans to significant invest and improve healthcare for local people over the next five years, South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Integrated Care System (ICS) aims to help 1.5 million people become healthier in 2020.
As part of the South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Five Year Plan, the ICS is targeting significant reductions in the number of preventable deaths and illnesses caused by smoking, obesity and mental illness.
The newly-outlined plans set out key areas where £129m of new indicative funding will be concentrated to address significant healthcare challenges and inequalities affecting the region’s population.
With healthy life expectancy lower in South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw than the national average and high levels of common disability and death causes such as smoking, obesity, physical inactivity and hospital admission due to alcohol, the Five Year Plan will focus in on addressing these issues by tackling the ‘burden of illness’ where it can prevented from occurring in the first place.
Flagship elements of the ambitious plans include new funding for more urgent treatment centres, improved community-based services to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions, investment into digital systems to enhance patient accessibility to online appointments and closer working relationships with community-based institutions like schools to teach children about good mental health.
Engagement with the public and a range of partners including NHS hospitals, mental health and social care trusts and clinical commissioning groups, and local councils across South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw, took place to make certain the new plan addressed key healthcare priorities. Building on the nationwide NHS Long Term Plan, the engagements have enabled the ICS to formulate an achievable and costed Five Year Plan for South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw.
Sir Andrew Cash, Chief Executive Lead of the South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw ICS, said: “As a South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw region we have joined forces to work as a system where it makes sense to do so and where it makes a real difference to patients, staff and the public.
“Our pledges in 2016 were to give people more options for care while joining it up for them in their neighbourhood, help them to stay healthy, tackle health inequalities, improve quality, access and outcomes of care, address workforce pressures and introduce new technologies. We paid particular attention to cancer, mental health and primary care, and the two key enablers of workforce and digital technology.
“Our 2019 Plan builds on these but it also focuses on children’s health, cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, diabetes, learning disabilities and autism. It takes forward the work to strengthen primary and community-based care and as a result of the review of hospital services across South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw, the development of Hospital Hosted Networks.
“Through our partnership working with Local Authorities, the Sheffield City Region, leading universities and world-class institutions we want to continue to influence and contribute to the development and implementation of a wide range of local ‘Place’ based strategies that are tackling the wider determinants of health, such as inclusive growth plans, housing, transport employment and thriving communities. At the same time, we want to ensure that all our local communities have equitable access to a full range of health and care services.
“Our new Five Year Plan recommits our ambition for everyone in South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw to have a great start in life, supporting them to be healthy and live longer, while aiming to be the best delivery and transformation System in the country”.