Leading Wakefield Together: This week’s leadership message comes from Becky Barwick and Michala James

Posted on: 11 April 2025

Joined up working for better health and care

Hello. We’re excited to tell you all about our Leading Wakefield Together system leadership development programme which started in September 2024. It is very much a passion project of us and members of our multi-agency design team.

Our goal is simple. We want to empower those working across the Wakefield district to work differently. We want people to feel part of #Team Wakefield. To think beyond their own teams and organisations and understand that we are stronger when we work together, for one common aim, to improve the health and wellbeing our those who live in our district.

Developing system leadership skills is a key priority shared across all the partners of the Wakefield District Health and Care Partnership. System leadership is one of the six priority ‘pillars’ in the Wakefield People Plan.

We provide the space for people to get a better understanding of our health and care system. It is a term used often, but we’ve learnt that many of our workforce don’t fully understand the breadth of what our system looks like and how it all fits together. We provide the space for people to develop new networks, build relationships and explore new way of working together.

Initially, we planned three cohorts and advertised these to those working across health and care across our district. We have been overwhelmed with the response and have been oversubscribed for each of our cohorts. On each cohort, we carefully craft a wide range of people from across our system to create the most opportunities for system working. This includes anyone working in an NHS organisation, the local authority, an independent health and care organisation or a voluntary, community and social enterprise organisation.

We are proud that Leading Wakefield Together has been designed and is delivered locally by those working across our system. We are delighted to say our design team is truly collaborative, with members from across our Wakefield District Health & Care Partnership. In addition to West Yorkshire ICB colleagues, our design team includes colleagues from Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust, South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and from within our System Workforce Team. We also engaged with a wider group of colleagues during our initial design stages, including general practice, public health and the VCSE sector.

Thank you for reading.

Becky and Michala

We also have a blog from Carlyn Boyce, Clinical Lead for the West Yorkshire Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub. This personal blog reflects the content of a training session co-presented with Dr. Kerry Hinsby, Clinical Psychologist

Avoidable harm in investigations is not inevitable, it is a systemic issue that can be addressed through education, compassionate leadership, and a commitment to intersectionality. In our ‘Employee Investigations – Looking After Your People and the Process’ training, we explored how power and privilege influence investigations, and why a nuanced, intersectional approach is vital.

This work is personal for both me and Kerry - it reflects not just our professional insight but lived experience. As a visibly Brown person and a visibly White person, we co-facilitated this session to emphasise that real change requires collective action.

Read the full blog.

What's been happening this week?

Leeds groundbreaking frailty research set to further boost global impact

A world-leading frailty assessment tool, available to GPs across the UK via electronic health record systems, has been further refined by its researchers in Leeds. The Electronic Frailty Index (now eFI 2) helps GPs assess a person’s level of frailty and the associated risks so they can offer them timely, personalised and preventative care. Read more on the Health Innovation Leeds website.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) framework for Roma communities shortlisted for national award

A pioneering framework to prevent antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the Roma population in West Yorkshire has been shortlisted for a national Antibiotic Guardian Award. The project, nominated under the Tackling Health Inequalities in AMR category, was developed by Anna Crowther, Senior Matron at Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust, as part of her NHSE Population Health Fellowship. The framework focuses on co-production approaches to address AMR within underserved communities.

Winners and highly commended projects will be announced at the awards ceremony in Birmingham on Monday 9 June 2025. The full list of shortlisted projects is on the Antibiotic Guardian website.

Airedale sister recognised at national awards

Airedale NHS Foundation Trust Neonatal Sister, Chloe Taylor, has received the RCN Foundation Leathersellers’ Award for Outstanding Achievement in supporting children and young people’s mental health.

The annual RCN Foundation Impact Awards recognise excellence in nursing and midwifery throughout the UK and the extraordinary contribution that nurses, midwives and healthcare support workers make to patient care.

Chloe, from Eastburn, has worked at Airedale General Hospital since 2023 and is also Neonatal Risk and Governance Lead for the Trust.

Chloe was nominated by RCN Foundation stakeholders for her trauma-informed case studies that were published for Leeds Beckett University. Read more on the Airedale Trust website.

Dial NHS 111 for 24/7 crisis mental health support – local telephone lines alert

Telephone access to help people in a mental health crisis is available by calling NHS 111 and selecting the mental health option.

Since the introduction of NHS 111 for mental health crisis in 2024, the West Yorkshire mental health helpline has been accessible via 111 as well as via an 0800 number. From 1 April 2025 the service can only be reached by calling NHS 111, the 0800 number will be discontinued. This change only relates to the telephone number, the team answering the calls remains the same.

Having one 3-digit memorable number will streamline access and help to reduce any confusion created by having two different routes into the service. Read more on the Partnership website.

Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber partnering with the West Yorkshire Mayor to provide new support for healthtech innovators

Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber will host a new healthtech accelerator as part of the West Yorkshire Mayor’s investment zone. £4.5 million of funding has been allocated to develop the scheme which will support up to 240 businesses over the next four years.

The funding, provided by the West Yorkshire Mayor, will enable the expansion of the highly successful Propel@YH accelerator programme, enabling it to provide even more intensive business support and masterclasses for innovators. This will help them to scale into the NHS, attract investment and contribute to regional economic growth.

Learn more on the accelerator website. If you are interested in joining the next cohort, please get in touch at info@healthinnovationyh.org.uk

Tackling health inequalities across West Yorkshire

We are making strong progress in tackling health inequalities through prevention, early intervention, collaboration and embedding trauma-informed principles. From boosting cardiovascular checks and supporting people to quit smoking, to co-producing an ambitious obesity strategy and expanding access to physical activity, our initiatives are improving health outcomes across communities. We’re also growing targeted support for marginalised groups through our Inclusion Health Network.

To learn more about the work underway and what’s next, read the article on our news pages and the paper taken to the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership Board on 1 April 2025

Strengthening suicide prevention across West Yorkshire

Sensitivity warning: this article discusses suicide, a sensitive topic that may impact on the reader. If you need support, please refer to the suicide prevention resources for West Yorkshire.

Over the past year, West Yorkshire has seen continued commitment from health and care organisations, the voluntary sector and individuals with lived experience to help reduce the number of lives lost to suicide. Over 1,000 people have received suicide prevention training and a growing network of around 500 suicide prevention champions is helping embed awareness across our communities. Real-time data sharing, targeted campaigns and a lived experience panel are shaping a more responsive and inclusive approach.

Read more on our news pages and see the paper discussed at the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership Board meeting on Tuesday 1 April.

Smoking ad brought to life in West Yorkshire street performances

New ‘Yes to Quit’ ads are being re-enacted in Bradford and Huddersfield to spark discussion over what will smokers miss more than smoking if they don’t quit.

The campaign launched at the end of March and has seen TV, radio, transport and social media adverts across West Yorkshire. It asks audiences ‘What will you miss?’ more than smoking, such as the weddings, births and special times with loved ones that two in three smokers will miss by dying too soon. It is hoped that these performances will inspire people to explore all the different quit services available in West Yorkshire and take the step to quit. Read more on our news pages.