I HAD the pleasure of being involved in a very exciting project when I attended a two-day health and social care planning exercise, looking at ways to better work with partners from across the county.

The main focus of the two days was patient outcomes and their experience of the NHS, with an outlining focus on integrated care.

We’re privileged that as a result of our Integration Pioneer Status, the Worcestershire health and social care economy were asked to participate in what is one of only four such events being run nationally.

The Pioneer Status was awarded to us for our ‘Well Connected’ programme, which brings together all the local NHS organisations (West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust and the three Clinical Commissioning Groups), the county council and key voluntary sector representatives.

The aim of this programme is to better join up and co-ordinate health and care for people and support them to stay healthy, recover quickly following an illness and ensure that care and treatment is received in the most appropriate place.

It’s clear that the NHS in its current format is not sustainable. The population is living longer and medical treatment is improving all the time but this means there is an increasing number of older patients with a large number of complicated long-term conditions.

We’ve already made progress in looking at new ways of caring for these patients, but more work is needed. This can only be achieved by different parts of the NHS working much closer together.

Alongside the countywide approach we’re looking locally in Wyre Forest at the best way to bring organisations together and deliver integrated care, wherever possible looking after patients nearer to their home. The Kidderminster hospital site may be the centre of these new developments...

Watch this space!

For more information about the work of the CCG, visit www.wyreforestccg.nhs.uk

DR SIMON RUMLEY, CHAIRMAN & CLINICAL LEAD, NHS WYRE FOREST CLINICAL COMMISSIONING GROUP