Collaboration is key to future success

Our Regional Director, Anne Rainsberry, visits east London to learn more about the next chapter of their sustainability and transformation partnership work…

Last week I spoke at the launch event of the East London HeaIth and Care Partnership. It was a very well attended occasion in Stratford Town Hall that brought together hundreds of representatives from the 20 member organisations, as well as other local stakeholder groups. I always enjoy visiting East London, an area that embodies so many of the great things about the capital city. With a very young, diverse, mobile and quickly expanding population — the challenges that brings for all public services, not just the NHS, is something for us to consider really carefully going forward.

The clear theme for the launch event, that was articulated by all speakers, was that of collaboration. Sir Robin Wales, the mayor of Newham, talked about how often the NHS goes through reorganisations (something I have experienced nine times in my 33 years working in the NHS!) and he argued that it hampers our ability to effectively transform. He also discussed how closely his council work with their local CCG and the progress they have made together in recent years.

Jonathan McShane, who is a councillor in Hackney and also the lead for Public Health at the Local Government Association, talked about bringing together the democratic legitimacy of local authorities with the clinical expertise of the NHS. This is one of the fundamental aims of all 44 sustainability and transformation partnerships across the country.

NHS priorities for the year ahead were outlined in the Five Year Forward View Next Steps document that published in April and include:

· improving A&E performance

· strengthening access to GP services and primary care

· improving cancer and mental health care

· delivering financial balance and accelerating local care redesign and integration.

Undoubtedly these can only be met by working in close partnership across health and care.

Partnerships are forums for shared decision making, supplementing the role of individual boards and organisations. The accountable care systems that evolve out of them will bring providers and commissioners together with a combined budget and fully shared resources to serve a defined population.

Simon Stevens recently announced at Confed the first eight accountable care systems across the country. None of them, unfortunately, were in London, but we are well on the way to establishing accountable care systems in the capital.

Accountable care systems are the future and in London we see sustainability and transformation partnerships as transitionary vehicles to support the implementation of them.

I am pleased to see that plans in most parts of London are well advanced. And that ongoing and constructive discussions with partners across the system to agree the number of accountable care systems, how they will work and how they will ensure the infrastructure is in place to support transition to this new way of working.

Given the last few months in politics, it feels difficult to make too many predictions for the future, but as much as possible I can reassure everyone that NHS England is as committed to the work of all 44 partnerships across the country, as we ever have been. By bringing together the right groups of people to think about what fundamental local changes are needed in every part of London and the country, we see them as the solution. And we are completely committed to delivering them.

Anne Rainsberry is the Regional Director for NHS England (London). She leads the region in its work to improve health across the capital, ensuring high quality care for every Londoner and working to make London the healthiest global city in the world.

She oversees £16bn health spend across the capital.

Anne joined NHS England from NHS London where she was Deputy Chief Executive and an executive member of the Board for six years. She has worked in the NHS for 30 years. During this time she has undertaken senior leadership roles at local, regional and national levels.

Anne has operated at Board level since 1995. She joined the Department of Health in 2001 as Director of Development for the South East Regional Office and then moving to lead this agenda across the South of England.