CEO blog - Thoughts on Neighbourhood Teams (Part 1)
Thoughts on Neighbourhood Teams (Part 1)
I have just been asked to do a podcast for another organisation outside of Cheshire on the development of neighbourhood teams.
Whilst many, including myself, have concerns about the haste NHS England have in establishing them without any contractual, or system structures to support them there is an undue degree of urgency involved which does ring alarm bells. Very few people disagree with the concept but if it was that easy in the current systems then we would have done it 70 plus years ago.
Agreement is not the problem. The problem is too many neighbourhood conversations are still starting in the wrong place. They start with structural questions.
Who sits on the group?
Which organisation leads?
Who chairs the meeting?
What is the governance route?
What is the accountability?
How often do we meet?
Leadership, governance, engagement, accountability all matter, but if neighbourhood healthcare starts there, it quickly risks becoming another forum for NHS meetings that feed the information requirements of the upper tiers of management (ICBs/NHSE) rather than a way of improving how care is delivered to patients where and when it matters to them. Are meetings the problem then? I do not think so as they are an essential part of engagement, feedback, and communication between the parties. What it does have is a problem with the seamless, smooth experience of patients within the system.
The real problem is, who owns the delivery of Neighbourhood Teams?
William Greenwood
Chief Executive