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27 June 2025

This week’s leadership message comes from Sayma Mirza, Associate Director for Children, Young People and Families for the NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB)

Children with complex support needs are among the most vulnerable in our communities. Yet too often, their needs go unrecognised until crisis point. In our evolving health and care landscape, it is more important than ever that we act early and act together.

I was at an event a few weeks ago where young people powerfully shared their experiences of navigating the health and education system for support with neurodiverse conditions. When reflecting on her time during school, it struck a chord with me when one young person shared: "they noticed my grades slipping but not my smile".

She was speaking of the missed opportunities to intervene early, and it was only until the ‘measured metric’ in this case GCSEs were negatively impacted that someone asked what support was needed, by which time sadly it was too late. This is a common theme that is often heard, and I believe to deliver reform in an integrated way, we must begin by truly listening to the people most impacted by late intervention. Sometimes all it takes is for one person to notice that additional support may be needed to help a child reach their potential. We must find the courage to lead in a meaningful way that enables co-design of holistic solutions with communities as equal partners.

I recognise this can be difficult, especially at such a time where we find ourselves amidst large scale organisational change within the NHS. The future remains uncertain but what is clear is that inequality continues to shape the access, experiences and outcomes of children and young people, especially for those that are most vulnerable. Leading transformational change amongst the current uncertainty is challenging and it can be easy to lose sight of voices that are seldom heard. However, when we pause and make the concerted effort to hear directly from local communities, it should remind us of ‘why it matters’ and why we must not allow the current context of change, distract us from doing the important work.

The development of integrated neighbourhood health (INH) models offers an exciting opportunity to deliver early, joined-up care for families who need it the most. Closer working between primary and secondary care services can lead to better met need. But the real potential lies in extending these partnerships. When education, social care, the voluntary community and social enterprise sector and the voices of families are included from the outset, we lay the foundations for multi-disciplinary teams to make meaningful and lasting change.

This is the future of neighbourhood working, where need is met early in a holistic way and without the revolving door of crisis management, placement breakdown or unnecessary hospital attendances.

Promising work is also underway across our region that shows what is possible when we collaborate early in a meaningful way with purpose. This includes the design of a ‘proactive behaviour service’ in Leeds that is helping support the workforce and foster carers with recognising when to intervene early if a social care placement is at risk of breakdown.

Elsewhere, we are seeing improved signposting for children that are on hospital waiting lists, the introduction of jointly led complex case panels and the use of the dynamic support registers across all places in West Yorkshire to prevent crisis management. A West Yorkshire escalation panel, led by mental health, learning disability and autism partners, has also been introduced in an approach to recognise and meet need early. And partners in Wakefield have launched a Fostering Hub Home model for strengthened transition between residential and foster care.

It is also encouraging to see the ethos of Mission 44, which aims to support every child to thrive in a fairer and inclusive world, being embraced by some schools within our region. This has included the introduction of coaching for students which has been positively received by young people.

I will leave you with a question. In collaboration with others, how can you use your positional power to intervene early when considering the complex support needs of children and young people? I would argue not only is it within our gift to do so as leaders within health and care, but it is also our moral obligation.

As we look ahead to the weekend, I share my parting thoughts with you:

I hope you have a lovely weekend,

Sayma

To mark Diabetes Awareness Week which took place earlier this month, Roz Bradshaw, Head of the Improving Population Health Programme at the ICB, reflects on the highs and lows of living with diabetes and the importance of being seen, valued and cared for.

I feel I hold a unique position, having lived with type 1 diabetes for 24 years. I am now also Head of Improving Population Health where I lead the work on long-term conditions, including diabetes, as part of my portfolio.

Living with type 1 diabetes is a unique life experience. It’s not a condition you can simply ignore, it demands daily attention and engagement. People with diabetes quickly come to understand that without active management, you can become very unwell, very quickly. Ironically, ignoring the condition can make you feel much more ‘diseased’ than facing it head-on.

You can read Roz's full blog on LinkedIn or on the Partnership website.

The ICB Board met in public on 24 June. A recording of the meeting is on the ICB website.

The West Yorkshire Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub has been shortlisted as a finalist at the HSJ Patient Safety Awards 2025. This is in recognition of its outstanding commitment to improving patient safety and driving innovation in healthcare.

The Hub recognises that racial trauma still exists today and can negatively impact a person's wellbeing. The racial trauma training aims to develop understanding on what racial trauma is and the impact this can have on individuals. Carlyn Boyce, clinical lead for the hub’s therapy service, has tirelessly worked with hub colleagues over the last year to design and develop the training which is evaluating well and has a current waiting list of 90 people.

This year's awards ceremony will take place on 15 September 2025 at Manchester Central. There is more information about the HSJ Patient Safety Awards on the website.

West Yorkshire innovation was front and centre at UK Kidney Week 2025, with two standout poster presentations led by clinical pharmacist Alice Pennock and project support officer Dannii Robinson.

Dannii and Alice presented the Minuteful Kidney and Hypertension Project, based on an abstract co-authored with Sarah De Biase (Senior Programme Manager, Improving Population Health) and Dr Sunil Daga (West Yorkshire CKD Lead for the Yorkshire and Humber Kidney Network and Consultant Nephrologist at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust). The presentation charted the project’s timeline, key milestones and emerging data. Although the project formally closed in early June, testing data will continue to flow in until 31 July 2025, with a formal evaluation underway.

Alice and fellow pharmacist Aamina Beebi also shared findings from the Leeds CaRe4Me project, focusing on early-stage challenges and insights from its qualitative evaluation.

The next meeting of the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership Board will take place on 15 July. The meeting will be live streamed from the Partnership website.

Tirzepatide, commonly known as Mounjaro®, is being introduced in a small number of GP practices in West Yorkshire as part of wider support for people living with obesity. It is only available to a limited number of patients in the first year, based on strict NHS criteria. See the news pages for more information.

Easy to understand animation brings personalised care to life for people affected by cancer 

Colleagues in the Living With and Beyond Cancer team at West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance have developed a short, accessible animation that breaks down the jargon around personalised care. It highlights the support that is available in local communities after a cancer diagnosis, over and above medical treatment.

The animation is designed to help people affected by cancer to have more meaningful conversations with their health professionals. And help them achieve greater choice and control over the support they receive outside of the hospital setting. For example, this could include prehabilitation and rehabilitation, emotional wellbeing, financial, employment and housing information.

More information about those meaningful and supportive conversations, known as cancer care reviews (CCRs) and holistic needs assessments (HNAs) can be found on the Cancer Alliance website.

Please share the links to the animation and information through relevant personal and professional networks.

For more information, please email wyicb.wycommsand.involvement@nhs.net or visit wypartnership.co.uk.

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