Dear Colleague,
'Winter’ doesn’t quite fully capture the true extent to the seasonal pressures that our NHS workforce faces on an annual basis. For starters, the pressures that providers face start well into the Autumn and there is little reprieve once Spring comes. Since the pandemic, Winter pressures have gone from an extremely busy and gruelling period to an annual crisis, and what was once deemed a difficult task now borders on impossible as once again our NHS colleagues are asked to deliver more, with even less. The North West London (NWL) Winter plan developed by the NWL Integrated Care Board (ICB) provides an articulate crisis response, focused on improved flow, productivity and communications, as well as providing adequate support to the workforce. But for it to be delivered, it will require the same spirit of can-do spirit and rule breaking as Covid did. We know we can do it, but since the pandemic has abated, we have resorted again to looking upwards and not outwards.
At our recent away day, we were joined by the brilliant Penny Dash, Chair of our NWL ICS, who spoke about putting the importance of turning data into insights and having the right skills in the right places. Innovation takes time and headspace, so whilst our brilliant frontline colleagues focus on the immediate firefighting, it is important that those of us with the capacity, capabilities and remit to keep implementing new ideas, testing new solutions and making more use of the data available to us, so that come Spring our system will be in a position to benefit from innovations that will deliver more proactive, preventative care.
At ICHP, we are privileged to support our sector’s Winter effort, by ensuring that that progress can happen. You can read more about some of the projects that we will be delivering to support NHS colleagues and patients here. And if you have a new idea or a problem we can help you to solve, get in touch.
Best wishes,
Axel
Dr Axel Heitmueller
Managing Director
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