London’s devolution deal to benefit the people of Havering, Barking and Dagenham, and Redbridge
Today’s the Mayor of London and the Secretary of State for Health as well as health and care leaders across the capital, signed a landmark devolution deal to improve health and care in London.
This is a key step forward for greater health and care integration in Havering, Barking and Dagenham, and Redbridge. It will support the pooling of budgets to enable joint planning and delivery of services, starting from April 2018 with selected services.
Havering Council and health commissioners from the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCGs) will now be jointly accountable for the health and wellbeing of the borough. The Council and NHS providers of services, including hospital, community and GP services will work together as an alliance to provide health and care services in the most appropriate way for the community.
Councillor Wendy Brice-Thompson, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health, said:
“The alliance aims to relocate resources from acute hospital services to providers in the community. Aligning the way we work with our partners in health will allow us to deliver a local targeted service that benefits residents, improves the offer of care they receive and produces improved outcomes across the borough.”
To support the landmark decision, Havering and the provider alliance is establishing locality teams across the borough; these teams will consist of health and care professionals from across all services. The localities offer will launch a pilot in April 2018, providing primary, community and social care and local authority services - such as housing, employment, diet and lifestyle – that support better health and wellbeing. Each team will support a population of at least 50,000 residents, with primary care at its heart (in networks of 8-15 GP practices).
The locality teams will tailor services to specific population areas in the borough (for example in terms of the staff mix), identifying people who are likely to develop serious health problems and offering early support and intervention.