Better Care Together – Hope for the Future

iu-4My last post, “Time to Face The Music” was deliberately provocative. We cannot simply keep on doing what we’ve always done or nostalgically hold onto the ‘good old days’. As previously stated, it simply isn’t sustainable and we’re only deceiving ourselves if we think it is.

 

We find ourselves in a a different (post flood) landscape, a terrain that requires a new way of being together. And we are fast learning, here in Morecambe Bay, that it’s not just enough to break down the traditional barriers between Hospitals, GPs, Mental Health, Community Nursing, the Emergency Services and Social Services. No, we have to go much wider and deeper than that if we’re going to develop a radically new way of working that is sustainable. We need to develop a Wellness Service that is of high quality, able to continually improve and offer compassionate, excellent, affordable, safe and accessible health and social care to everyone in our community. In order to do so, we need every person in every community to partner with us. We need partnerships with education, business, sport, justice, housing and the voluntary sector to name just a few. Old silos must be broken down and centrally driven targets must be re-examined to give communities the ability to creatively flourish together.

 

We need big conversations across the sectors of society about what it really means for us to be well and how we can take better responsibility for ourselves and each other. It is so much more than just physical and mental health. It must include a wider understanding of social and systemic health also (see earlier posts on this).

 

And this is exactly what our team in Morecambe Bay is trying to do.images We’re not always getting it right and we’re learning some really tough lessons along the way, especially that our old habits of trying to fix things die hard! Real engagement takes time, but in the process of doing so, we are seeing 3 core principles emerging out of our focused work in Carnforth that we believe to be important keys to unlock this process in every community.

 

As we listen and engage with local people and communities, firstly we are seeing community leaders naturally rise up to make a difference and help increase the well-being of their area. We have many varied examples of amazing initiatives beginning. Secondly, we are seeing clinical leadership that is evidenced based and responsible, but empowers others to make a change. Thirdly we are seeing culture change beginning to emerge, with a more effective coaching culture and a focus on the wellness of those who deliver the care within our communities.

 

iuConversations really matter and carry within them the dynamic potential to make significant and lasting change, as we learn not only to talk differently, but to act differently as well. In the NHS, we have some expertise, but the true experts of their own lives and communities are the citizens we serve. We must change to be much more in conversation with them rather and lose the role of ‘grandma knows best’!

 

 

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