Partnerships

The Sandwell Health and Care Partnership (SHCP) supports residents across Sandwell with their health, social care and community needs. It has been formed to improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities for all people who live and work within Sandwell’s rich, diverse and multicultural communities. It will refocus care towards more preventative, primary and community models of care.

The partnership is made up of organisations situated within the borough (known as place-based) and includes:

  • Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust
  • Sandwell Council
  • Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
  • Black Country Integrated Care Board,
  • Eight primary care networks (PCNs)
  • Sandwell Council for Voluntary Sector Organisations (SCVO)
  • Healthwatch Sandwell
  • Rights and Equality Sandwell

The partners, both public and private sector organisations, are working together to focus on the needs of the population rather than the individual objectives of the partners and their organisations.

They want to put citizens at the centre of their plans by working together, sharing resources, knowledge and information.

These organisations are developing new ways of working together to improve the health and wellbeing outcomes of the Sandwell population, increase the quality of care provided and ensure long-term financial sustainability of the “place”.

Each organisation within a partnership retains its own budget but will agree, with other partners, how it is spent for the benefit of the local community. Partnerships can design and deliver services to meet the needs of everyone they serve based on their local population. They can focus services on areas of greatest need and aim to improve life expectancy.

Examples of working together

Harvest View Open to patients

A very recent and real example of how well this partnership approach can work has been the recent opening of Harvest View in Rowley Regis. This is Sandwell’s new flagship social care and health facility and the first of its kind in the West Midlands.

You can read more about it here: https://www.swbh.nhs.uk/media/harvest-view-is-now-open/

Integrated Discharge Hub

The Integrated Discharge Hub (IDH) is an early example of the extent at which care for local people can improve when organisations move beyond collaboration and fully integrate.

The hub, formed in 2021, unites nursing and therapy staff from the Trust, with colleagues working in adult social care and the Black Country Integrated Care Board.

The team are co-located and work as one to ensure the safe and timely discharge of patients from acute beds.

The service has adopted the national Discharge to Assess (D2A) model which focusses on identifying patients likely discharge needs on admission to reduce unnecessary delays. If people have care or therapy needs, people are discharged when medically appropriate and then assessed in their destination. This contrasts with the previous models where all assessments took place in the acute ward, causing further delays. The team utilise a ‘trusted assessor’ approach, where the assessment of a professional from one organisation is used by all others rather than having multiple, often duplicated assessments.

The partnership has now expanded the Integrated Discharge Hub by creating a Care Navigation Centre (CNC) which coordinates all health and care needs for people in Sandwell.

Town Teams Workshops – supported by Healthwatch Sandwell

The communications and engagement workstream for the Sandwell Health and Care Partnership has been working with one of the place partners, Healthwatch Sandwell, to host a series of citizen focussed workshops in each Sandwell town.

These have provided an opportunity to carry out localised information gathering and networking exercise that will be used to shape services within each town.

Tammy Davies, SWB NHS Trust Group Director for Primary Care, Community and Therapies and Town Teams Lead for the partnership said: “We held the first workshop in West Bromwich in November followed by Tipton, Wednesbury and Smethwick in early 2023.  

“They were all really well attended with a great mix of residents, local business and voluntary organisations and have been an opportunity for local citizens to be open and honest about what is on their minds about health, care and social needs in their communities.

Each workshop captures themes and core topics for future development within the SHCP programme and will be shared more widely over coming months.

If you are interested in attending future workshops email paul.higgit@healthwatchsandwell.co.uk

 Winter Supporting Sandwell Booklet  and Sandwell Warm Spaces

Sandwell Council has created an excellent booklet for all residents to ensure that they get the information they need to support them through the winter and the cost-of-living crisis. It contains key pieces of information helping citizens to make the most of their money and find help. It has been sent to every home in Sandwell. An online version can also be accessed via the council website.

In Autumn last year the council also opened a  total of 29 venues in Sandwell as ‘free’ Warm Spaces, including libraries and community centres to support residents – to find out where they are you can check out this link.

Supporting Sandwell Language Network

The partnership funds the 2022-23 Supporting Sandwell Language Network 2 (SLN2) programme along with Sandwell Public Health.  

Offering community-based English language learning, the initiative has been hailed as a lifeline to the most vulnerable and excluded residents of Sandwell who without it would have little or no connection to the community. This helps the population to feel more socially empowered, improve their health, wellbeing, and employability.