Bay Health and Care Partners Newsletter Issue 12.png

Bay Health and Care Partners Stakeholder Newsletter Issue 12

26th May 2022

Welcome to the twelfth edition of our Bay Health and Care Partners (BHCP) newsletter where we will update you every month on the collaborative work that is taking place in Morecambe Bay’s Place-Based Partnership and the outcomes and benefits for communities.

In this edition, we would like to start by highlighting that Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England, visited South Lakeland and Barrow-in-Furness in April to find out more about the rural and coastal communities, some of the organisations supporting them and their response during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. You can read the full story at the BHCP website here.

We would like to congratulate Northwest Blood Bikes service on reaching their tenth anniversary. The volunteer bike courier service for the NHS was started in May 2012 and has carried out nearly 110 thousand successful runs, covering over 1.5million miles and saving the NHS over £6.3million. You can read the full story here.

It’s fantastic to see the success of projects across our Partnership to make Morecambe Bay a greener area, so we are please to share that a multi-million pound project to eliminate onsite CO2 emissions generated by Salt Ayre Leisure Centre has been completed. You can read the full story here.

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) has launched an ‘Improving Together’ newsletter to highlight improvements to patient care and services. In the first edition, some of the many colleagues who are working on improvements throughout UHMBT and across the health and care system are featured. The Trust's Senior Responsible Officers, Core Team members and Workstream Leads for the Recovery Support Programme (RSP) are also featured in the newsletter. You can read Improving Together on this link.

We would like to close by drawing your attention to UHMBT’s areas of focus for 2022/2023. They are: You’re safe in our hands - Quality and safety of services; We’re here for you – Colleague psychological and physical wellbeing and We’re planning for success - Improved financial performance and transformation of services. You can read the areas of focus in more detail here.

Dr Geoff Jolliffe and Prof Mike Thomas, Joint Chairs for BHCP

Partners transforming services

Every month we will explore a different area of our programmes of work that are transforming services. As part of the BHCP Digital Strategy, we are promoting the digital innovations of our partners and organisations we work closely with across the Bay. You can read the strategy at the BHCP website here.

This month we are highlighting a pilot project that colleagues at North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) have completed to turn Kendal Ambulance Station into a Smart Station. The project started back in July 2020 and has seen the team introduce a variety of digital systems and solutions to reduce the impact on staff time improve safety and efficiency and become a greener site. You can read more at the BHCP here.

Listening to our communities 

The voices of our communities are central to our new way of working. In this edition, we focus on Bay Health Festivals which aim to create spaces and opportunities for people to have conversations – easy or difficult – with family, friends, neighbours, and with ourselves.

Alongside the main festival which is due to take place in Lancaster between 7-10 July, there will be a number of school days, as well as a festival in Barrow on 9 July and 'The Bay Wrap' competition. You can find out more at the BHCP website here.

GP focus with Dr Richard Russell 

Our GPs are an important part of Bay Health Care Partners and here our GPs and primary care colleagues have the opportunity to talk about issues and specialties that they are working on or interested in.

This month Dr Richard Russell talks to us about men's health in advance of Men's Health Week. This year's Men's Health Week runs from 13-19 June. You can read the full story at the BHCP website here.

The Spotlight on...

Every month we will feature a different voluntary, community, faith sector or Social Enterprise (VCFSE) organisation across the Bay. This time the spotlight is on... Stanleys. Stanleys is a registered charity set up by local people, offering opportunities to its community and members. Working alongside a wide range of volunteers, Stanleys uses an asset-based approach to develop sessions in which community members can achieve the five ways to wellbeing.

Stanleys aims are to improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people and adults and build the aspirations of young people to achieve things that they didn’t think were possible. The centre works with 15 Young Leaders who offer support to peers and help to run youth sessions for younger people and 12 Young Ambassadors who are working closely with partners and have joined local panels and engagement events to air their views about youth provision and how local money should be used to support it. The Young Ambassadors are also working with local organisations in Morecambe and Lancaster to develop a more joined-up approach for Youth Work. You can read the full case study at the BHCP website here.

Celebrating our teams 

There are a variety of roles across BHCP and other organisations we work with in the community. Here we shine the spotlight on the people who carry out a range of roles to keep our communities healthy and supported.

To mark Volunteers Week (1-7 June), we would like to thank all of our volunteers across our Partnership and beyond who do such a fantastic job to support our communities. In this edition, Carol Warwick, Volunteers Coordinator at Barrow Foodbank, Phil Ramsden, volunteer for Bay Volunteers and Gillian Cowburn, volunteer cook for Kendal Lunch Bunch talk to us about their roles here.

Terri Sethi is a Warehouse volunteer and occasional volunteer driver's assistant for Morecambe Bay Foodbank. You can read Terri's case study here.

ICCs update 

Our Integrated Care Communities (ICCs) are integrated teams of health and care workers, voluntary organisations and wider community assets who work together to aim to improve physical and mental health outcomes, promote wellbeing and reduce health inequalities across an entire population.

In this edition, we would like to highlight an organised mental health swim/dip that is taking place in Morecambe Bay, every second Friday of the month.

You can find out more details about the swims at the BHCP website here.

The latest editions of the ICCs' newsletters can be read here.

Top stories from our partners 

Thank you for reading our latest edition!

This newsletter is produced by the BHCP Comms and Engagement Team. If you would like to submit a story please contact Michelle Jordan, Ivan Drozdov and Karen Evans at BHCP.Communcations@mbht.nhs.uk 

You can sign up for the newsletter here or send us any feedback on it here.

You can find a PDF version of this edition of the newsletter at the 'Bay Health and Care Partners Newsletters' section of the website by clicking here. 

Return to header