Agenda item

To consider the report of the Senior Responsible Officer for Leeds Health and Care Academy and Chair of Leeds One Workforce Strategic Board; Chief Executive Officer, Leeds & York Partnership NHS Trust.

The report of the Senior Responsible Officer for Leeds Health and Care Academy and Chair of Leeds One Workforce Strategic Board; Chief Executive Officer, Leeds & York Partnership NHS Trust.

The Director of Leeds Health and Care Academy and Leeds Strategic Workforce introduced the report, on behalf of the Academy and One Workforce Board, which involves, service providers, educational institutions and the third sector to bring together partners to improve workforce issues faced within the health and care system.

The following was outlined:

·  Connectivity between organisations allows unified approaches, a shared culture and ethos, which ultimately allows improved opportunities for public health and access to services.

·  Defining an organisations role identifies work that can be done collaboratively or independently.

·  City workforce planning approach is a collaboration of workforce leaders and professionals working together to develop a system-wide, unified strategy.

·  The Academy provides system leadership and culture initiatives and learning opportunities with core health and care knowledge and skills.

·  Leeds is not isolated; it feeds into the West Yorkshire network and the national and international health system.

·  The strategic approach is to be person-centred, not contained by organisational boundaries, embedding the Health and Wellbeing Strategy ambition, for Leeds to be a healthy and caring city for all ages, where people who are the poorest improve their health the fastest.

·  The work of the One Workforce Board was noted to have been successful, pulling together a multitude of groups and partner boards to advance a workforce vision for Leeds - Leeds will be fair, open and welcoming; Leeds' economy will be prosperous and sustainable; All Leeds' communities will be successful.

·  Services are integrating through joint recruitment and education approaches. The delivery of this is aligned to system needs and fully informed by the context of skills scarcity in key areas.

·  Health and social care cannot be separated; for example, staff exhaustion has been experienced across the system and issues faced by all staff need to be understood collectively to support them and unlock their full potential as care providers.

·  The seven strategic workforce prioritiesagreed by partners are integrated workforce design, growing and developing registrants, working across organisations, preventing ill health, narrow inequalities, learning together, improving health and wellbeing.

·  Experience from the work of the Leeds One Workforce Strategic Board and Academy can be learnt from to strengthen connections, amplify efficiency, and accelerate progress through allocating the right resources and people to the right place.

·  Key projects involving voluntary and third sector and apprenticeships were noted to allow opportunities that narrow inequalities, providing hyper local, real pathways to careers.

·  The impact of the workforce strategies intends to engage, recruit and support staff with tracked indicators for longevity.

·  People Matters, a charity and social enterprise organisation which works to include those with a disability in the workforce, were commended for their work on value-based recruitment and enabling successful careers.

The Board discussed the following matters:

·  It was confirmed that ‘Team Leeds’ induction materials have been developed and shared with partners to embed locally. This can’t be entirely done centrally by the Academy.

·  The positive effects of the collaboration strategies had been felt, but a cross reference impact assessment may be of use given the finite space and resources for some organisations and the disparity of available options. A map of interdependence was noted to be in development to deal with practical frustrations, such as access to IT in shared buildings.

·  Staff retention is crucial across the health and care system and requires a mindset shift to ensure skills stay within the system. Staff may move organisation, but if this is between organisations in Leeds, this is not a loss to the system in its entirety.

·  Health and wellbeing support for staff, through Leeds Community Healthcare, had opened their offer to other providers including commissioned services and across social care.

·  The work on ‘Team Leeds’ and workforce monitoring was commended as there is a vacuum of national action to address staff recruitment and retention. A national coherent plan for social care is needed to align overall system priorities as the NHS primarily tops the hierarchy of value.

·  Creative, upstream recruitment targeted at younger people will be effective in creating interest for careers in the health and care system, with progress opportunities road mapped for entry level jobs.

·  NHS roles may seem to be more attractive to care staff. There are frequent examples where staff move over to NHS employment even if the salaries are similar. This may be as they seem to receive greater benefits and are perceived to hold greater social value.

·  Support for the council paying the real living wage for home care providers was outlined as a positive step forward and all providers were encouraged to adopt the same.

·  An updated national NHS workforce strategy is expected in the Spring this year. However, the Board noted that an integrated workforce strategy for the whole health and care sector would be more beneficial.

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RESOLVED –

·  That the progress and positive impact the Academy and One Workforce Programme is making, be celebrated.

·  That the Board proactively and visibly champion a one city Team Leeds approach across the collective workforce.

·  That Members comments relating to impact opportunities not mentioned within this report or supporting papers where the work being undertaken could be applied, be noted.

(Councillor S Arif joined the meeting during consideration of this item)