A team of leading experts in the field of health, social care and public finance has been appointed to look at how the North East can tackle health inequality.
The five national figures will form the Commission for Health and Social Care Integration in the North East, which has been set up by the NHS and the North East Combined Authority (neca).
The purpose of the commission is to identify opportunities for further collaboration and integration in order to improve the health and wellbeing of residents and reduce health inequalities across the North East.
Duncan Selbie, chief executive of Public Health England, has already been appointed as chair of the commission, which met for the first time last week.
Mr Selbie is joined by Tom Wright, chief executive of Age UK; Professor Dame Carol Black, expert advisor to Public Health England and NHS England on health, work and wellbeing; Rob Whitemen, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy; and Dr Amit Bhargava, clinical chief officer for NHS Crawley Clinical Commissioning Group and executive board member of the NHS Alliance.
Cllr Mick Henry, health and social care lead for the North East Combined Authority, said: “We want to improve the economic fortunes of the North East, with more and better jobs and greater opportunities for business to develop and thrive.
“By tackling health inequalities, we can ensure that residents across the region are able to share in the benefits that this can bring.
“The commission brings together a wide range of expertise, which will enable us to understand how we can build on our existing strengths in order to achieve this.”
At their first meeting, the commission members discussed the purpose and focus of their work and agreed how they will carry out their work in partnership with local organisations.
Over the next few months, the commission members will be exploring how to build on existing arrangements for joint working, to place greater emphasis on prevention and support the shift from hospital-based care to self-care and care closer to home, to improve health and independence.
They will also be looking at what financial arrangements would be needed to underpin these shifts, as well as how decisions would be made within the neca area and with central Government.
As their work progresses, they will be linking into the broader neca agenda, which includes the wider social and economic issues that impact on health.
Mr Selbie said: “We know that the North East has some of the best health and care services in the country and that there is already a great deal of effective partnership working taking place.
“Despite this there are still clear health inequalities which we must tackle to improve the lives of residents so that that they can be as healthy as possible and play an active part in their community and the wider economy.
“This means organisations working together to identify a number of significant practical developments that they can implement together to support a system that is sustainable, affordable and makes the most of the resources, skills and talents that exist in the region.”
Dr David Hambleton, chair of the Northern Clinical Commissioning Group Forum representing NHS clinical commissioning groups, said: “We welcome this opportunity to work with the commission looking at how organisations can collectively help to improve the health and wealth of the region.
“We face some very significant challenges to ensure that people have the same chances of happy, health and prosperous lives, no matter where they live. We believe this is best achieved by the NHS and local authorities working closely together and the commission will help us to understand better how we can make this happen.”
The commission will shortly begin a call for evidence to seek views and information from local people and organisations in relation to how services can work better together. There will also be listening events in each of the seven local authority areas to provide further opportunities for participation.
The commission will meet again to consider the findings in early summer.
About the commission members:
Duncan Selbie took up his current post as chief executive of Public Health England in 2013. From 2007 to 2012 he was chief executive of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals, the regional teaching hospital for the south east of England. He has also held senior posts at national level within the Department of Health, the role of chief executive of South East London Strategic Health Authority and prior to that chief executive of South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust.
Tom Wright is chief executive of Age UK. The charity was formed in 2009 when Age Concern and Help the Aged combined to create the UK’s largest charity for older people. He is also chair of the Richmond Group of leading health charities and a trustee of Go ON, focussing on digital inclusion.
Professor Dame Carol Black is expert advisor to Public Health England and NHS England on health, work and wellbeing. She is currently conducting an independent review for the Prime Minister on how to help return to work those in the benefit system who are addicted to drugs or alcohol or are obese. She is principal of Newnham College, Cambridge, and also chairman of the Nuffield Trust. She was head of rheumatology at the Royal Free Hospital from 1989 until 2006 and maintains an interest in research into connective tissue diseases. She was president of the Royal College of Physicians from 2002 until 2006.
Rob Whiteman was appointed as chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) in September 2013. Before moving to the CIPFA he was a senior civil servant in the British Civil Service working as the chief executive of the UK Border Agency. Prior to this he was the managing director of Local Government Improvement and Development (LGID).
Dr Amit Bhargava is clinical chief officer at NHS Crawley Clinical Commissioning Group and executive board member of the NHS Alliance, the Department of Health Forward Thinking Group and the National Stakeholder Forum. As part of his role with the NHS Alliance he is the network lead for general practice.