West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership becomes the first ‘Keep it Local’ Integrated Care System in the country

The West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership has become the first ‘Keep it Local’ ICS in the country following agreement at the Partnership Board.  The Partnership now joins the five local authorities across West Yorkshire who are ‘Keep it Local’ Councils.

In the face of pressures on health and social care, this national initiative is focused on how the NHS works with its partners to prioritise supporting, partnering with and commissioning local Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector partners. We recognise how local VCSE partners produce high-quality people-centred services with intrinsic social value that is a vital for a progressive integrated care system with unique expertise and insights to reduce health inequalities in communities. Continue reading the full story on the West West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership becomes first keep it local Integrated Care System in the country.

Kim Shutler, VCSE Member of the NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (WY ICB) and Senior Responsible Officer for the Power of Communities Programme said:

“We welcome the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership becoming the first ‘Keep it Local’ Integrated Care System in England. We know that our local VCSE organisations, particularly our grassroots and small organisations, are experts in developing services to tackle health inequalities and key to prevention and generating good health and wellbeing in our communities. That is why the NHS in West Yorkshire have invested in the VCSE sector. However, VCSE organisations operate in increasingly difficult environment. A truly ‘Keep it Local’ approach will make it easier to support and work with our local VCSE organisations and increase local spend to invest in our local economy.”

The six principles of ‘Keep it Local’ are a key contributor to achieving the strategic ambitions of the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership:

  1. Think about the whole system not individual service silo
  2. Co-ordinate services at a neighbourhood level
  3. Increase local spend to invest in the local economy
  4. Focus on prevention now to save costs tomorrow
  5. Commit to our community and proactively support local organisations
  6. Commission services simply and collaboratively so they are “local by default

Next steps

The WY ICB meeting in June will receive a ‘Keep it Local’ ICS development plan that will be produced between now and then working with Locality who can provide some limited capacity to support the System over the next 12 months (funded by NHSE as part of their national work with the VCSE Health & Wellbeing Alliance).

Leeds City Council signed up in 2020, and now all 5 councils within WY ICB are committed.

Third Sector Leeds (TSL) recently held a ‘Locality Manifesto and Community Power Act’ session. This is a good commitment to raise with partners and build on in through the Social Value work.

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