Lots of things affect our health: work, housing, education, transport and, of course, our relationships with family, friends and our community. Across Greater Manchester the NHS and councils are working with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector to build a system that takes account of these wider health influences. There’s a real commitment to put this ‘person and community-centred’ approach at the heart of all health and care services. Our ambition is that all health care professionals have better conversations with people. By listening to what matters, we’ll help people take more control of their health by connecting them with support, community groups and organisations.
The Person and CommunityCentred Approaches Team.
Our model is based on what people say they want...
Listening to what matters “I’d love to have enough mobility to play with the grandkids again.”
Designing support through personal budgets “We know what works best for our dad.”
Social prescribing “This knit ‘n’ natter group gets me out of the house, meeting new people.”
Recognising the strength of our communities “Social prescribing? We’ve known the value of that for years.”
We’re at the St Thomas Centre in Manchester
We’ve worked with representatives from Greater Manchester’s 10 boroughs - councils, health and social care, people with lived experience, and our voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sectors. When we challenge each other to improve... that’s when we start to see a difference
At a VCSE Assembly event, we had participants from housing, the arts, black and minority ethnic communities, ageing support, sports and citizens advice. And some organisations who’ve already had success with our new way of working. They have helped us deepen and fine tune our thinking.
We’re constrained by little or no funding
Together we can make more use of our vibrant communities
We’ve spoken to lots of people to get great examples of what really matters. Working with the VCSE sector further confirmed we were on the right lines with most of our draft statements defining what is most important to people. It helped us redefine some of the others. The discussions suggested we were missing a statement around the theme of empowerment, hope and agency...
....and so we added this outcome statement, “I can achieve my full potential�.
MORE TRUST PLEASE “It’s good to have the opportunity to contribute our expertise to the process. We’ve been working on this new way of working for some time and it’s good that there’s a dialogue rather than feeling like an inferior partner. “I think there’s a big job to be done yet around commissioning. There’s some positive rhetoric at leadership level and some great work at ground level (although we need to shout about it more) but I’m less confident about the middle layer. The commissioning managers need to trust the voluntary sector more. “Community organisations already know the value of social prescribing – we’ve worked with the most vulnerable for years – so use our experience. We see specifications that are really prescriptive, with no leeway, although we know can contribute more. So more flexibility; tender documents that suit our sector; and more trust.”
What influence can the VCSE sector have over all of this?
Online Community Open to all sectors, a place where like-minded people can discuss ideas and explore thinking. Email gmhscp.pccaeportal@nhs.net to request an account. Community of Practice For those wanting to meet in person to share experiences and learnings across Greater Manchester localities. Email nick.dixon1@nhs.net to get involved. Follow the conversation on Twitter For more information contact us at: gmhscp.pcca@nhs.net Tel: 0161 625 7492
#GMCommunityWellbeing
We’re putting together a Resource Pack to support the NHS, councils and VCSE sector to use person and community-centred approaches to a consistent standard.
All available in the autumn.
We’re thinking differently about how health and care supports people, focusing on the whole person – their life and circumstances – not just treating illness. Join us as we strive for a better approach to health and wellbeing.
World Health Organisation, 1948 (the year the NHS was born)
Health and Social Care VCSE Engagement Project: www.gmcvo.org.uk/HSCEngage Email: kat.rado-barnes@ gmcvo.org.uk
Drawn and compiled by Len Grant
Health... a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership: www.gmhsc.org.uk Email: gm.hscinfo@nhs.net Call: 0161 625 7791 Twitter: @GM_HSC Facebook: GMHSCPartnership