Let’s join up our efforts to improve health and wellbeing

By Kathy McLean, chair NHS Derby and Derbyshire

Thank you for the welcome I have received since becoming the new chair of NHS Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board on 1 May.

Many of you know me already as I have been in this system in one way or another for over thirty years.  

I worked for many years as a consultant at the Royal Derby Hospital before leaving to take up regional and national roles I returned as chair of University Hospitals Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust in 2019, until taking up this new role, so I know the area very well.

Even when I worked in a variety of national leadership positions over the last 15 years, my home and my family remained in Derby.

I grew up in the northwest but for the past thirty years have lived and brought up my family in Derby.

I enjoy both the city where I live and the rural Peak District where I spend weekends walking up hills.

I am committed to this area and am passionate about improving services and health for patients and citizens.

I want to help create a culture of support for colleagues across the system in their work and, although times are challenging, to create room for improvement.

It’s vital that we are always improving the way we do things.  

The purpose of integrated care systems is to improve the quality of care and outcomes for our population, reduce health inequalities, as well as becoming financially sustainable and supporting our community’s broader social and economic development.

We have an Integrated Care System Strategy and our Integrated Care Board contributes to that work through our five year “Joint Forward Plan“.

This aims to target more resources for prevention of ill health, to empower local teams, to provide people with more control over their care, to improve productivity and efficiency, and to use data and intelligence better.

The Joint Forward Plan is in its second year and will be refreshed over the next few months.

To understand our system in more detail, I would like to get to know you and your colleagues better and find out more about your contribution to our health and care system.

There are many great examples of joined up care, or integrated care, across our city and county. Some of them are showcased on this website and through our social media.

However, I find that people are often too shy, or busy, to shout about the great work they are doing.

We need to learn from each other, share innovation, experience and solutions.

I’m interested and would love to hear about and share your challenges, successes and learnings.

I know that people’s personal experience of health and care is mainly felt locally whether through the GP practice, social worker, drop-in services, home visiting or the local hospital.

People’s needs are different in inner city Derby compared to the rural Dales, so our local teams are shaping their services in the way that best meets the needs of their local populations.

Drop me a line via ddicb.enquiries@nhs.net to invite me along to visit your project or work.

One set of people I’ll be looking forward to meeting over the coming weeks is our new intake of MPs.

We have a new government now and we will work with them and our MPs, of whatever political party, to implement national policies and standards.

I’m very keen also to work with the new elected mayor of the East Midlands region Claire Ward.

Her remit covers Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, as well as Derby and Derbyshire so we have lots of joint opportunities to take forward.

As I am also Chair of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated care Board and Integrated Care Partnership, I feel there is a natural geographical fit for our work.

I look forward to getting to know you here in Derby and Derbyshire and learning more about your work.