Posted on: 15 February 2024
Hi, I’m Andrew Lee and I recently returned to Yorkshire after a brief sojourn to take up the role of Regional Deputy Director for Health Protection at the UK Health Security Agency.
When people ask what I do, I usually say I chase bugs for a living. That’s partly true – my team are like infectious disease detectives, hunting for the source of infections and putting in measures to stop infections from spreading. In a way, we’re a bit like the Men in Black – an agency most of the public haven’t heard of who quietly work in the background to protect people and stop invasions of alien species. On a serious note, we do a lot more such as giving technical advice and helping to coordinate system responses to a wide range of threats including environmental hazards (such as radiation and chemicals), as well as cross-cutting issues such as refugee health, sexual health, and planning for emergencies including pandemics.
I’ve worked in numerous roles over the past two decades in Yorkshire and the Humber as a paediatrician, GUM (Genito-urinary) doctor, GP, medical director, academic and public health consultant. In that time, I’ve worked across the patch from Calderdale to North Lincolnshire and places in between. In the past I’ve also worked as a humanitarian aid worker in various conflict and disaster zones including Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and the Philippines. Most recently, I’ve worked with UKHSA’s global team, helping to strengthen health systems in various countries around the world. It has been a privilege to learn a bit about the different towns and communities in Yorkshire as well as worldwide – no two places are alike, and each has its own unique set of health needs and ways of working. I’ve come to learn that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to problems, and that no one has all the answers. However, by listening to one another and working together many problems can be tackled. There’s a quote I came across during my travels in Africa which I like – if you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together.
I am also really passionate about health inequalities. They exist everywhere. They are unjust. They are preventable. As a parent of a child with learning disabilities, we’ve personally encountered discrimination (both intentional and unintentional). I know how difficult things can be for people living with disabilities – it’s often a long struggle. Our public services exist to serve people and we can make things better for people living with disabilities. A good place to start is to address our preconceptions and value them as individuals in their own right, with hopes, dreams and needs like the rest of us - “see the person and not the disability”.
I am very mindful that things are tough at the moment for many of our overstretched services and many staff are working super hard. This can certainly wear staff down so it’s important that we look after one’s wellbeing, as well as look out for one another. The mountain of work and challenges we face may look insurmountable and this can feel disempowering. But a wise colleague once said (this was with regards to the challenge of climate change), “You don’t have to solve it all, just do your bit. It all adds up and that will make a difference.” I don’t say this glibly, but from my time in disaster zones I have seen how things do get better. I am optimistic that working together, our little bits add up and we can improve things. I look forward to working with you to continue to keep our communities healthy and safe.
Thank you for reading and have a good weekend, Andrew
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This week’s blog comes from Ali Jan Haider, Chair of NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board Race Equality Network and Director of integrated health and care for Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership.
Don’t join the NHS – why would you want to go there?
The above words were gently whispered to me by a previous manager as I was writing my acceptance letter to start a role in the NHS, namely with four primary care trusts across Bradford District and Craven. The remark, alongside a few other sweeteners was, I like to think, an attempt to keep me in the organisation and say no to a role in the NHS. It did make me feel valued that my manager did not want me to leave. However, the time was right, and I did go there.
I would not swap my twenty-two years plus in the NHS for anything. It has been a memorable journey where I have learned more than I could ever have imagined and had the privilege to influence well-being outcomes for people, in countless positive and innovative ways. It has been a journey not without setbacks or struggles. It is a truism that leading on race equality accelerates the grey (or the no) hair phenomena!
Fortunately, I was working in a culture where we had the resilience and determination to persevere, using data and lived experience to edge forward slowly and gallop ahead when appropriate. It was a journey where inertia only inspired us to become stronger and more courageous in our determination to succeed. It is a journey that many will take, there will be achievements, setbacks and at times a feeling that little has really changed. So, ‘why would you want to go there’?
My first role in the NHS was to lead on ‘equality and diversity’. The work the team and I did on ‘delivering race equality in mental health’, promoting career opportunities in social care and health (POSH), working with a performing arts company (Cragrats) to deliver anti-racist training, and establishing Enable 2 to deliver translation services (just to cite a few examples) was trailblazing. I guess if I’d not gone there, I’d have missed the opportunities to make such positive, indelible blows for equality and diversity.
I was honoured to work with so many committed colleagues locally, regionally and nationally. This included at the time, Sir Nigel Crisp and his team. I proudly shared what we were doing in Bradford so that our great work could inspire and be adopted by others across the country.
My career and my work blossomed in the NHS. I was privileged to lead as director of commissioning in the areas of primary medical care, mental health and wellbeing, Living Well, community partnerships, special educational needs and disability (SEND) children’s commissioning and continuing health care. I interlinked with our acute hospitals to explore how we could continue to increase the effectiveness of our services for our diverse population. I lived and breathed the NHS.
Undeniably, I could not be where I am today without some amazing colleagues placing their trust and confidence in me and offering me the direction and support when I needed it most. The memories of the great leaders who were there for me will live on.
I leave the NHS in the middle of March this year. I end my job with mixed feelings. I will miss many colleagues who became part of my ‘work family’ and who I enjoyed great times with, shared tough stubborn challenges with, and tried to solve the world's problems with all at once.
Fate, I feel has dealt me an interesting hand before the NHS and I part company. The BRAP report ‘Too Hot to Handle,’ shines the light on present day racism in the NHS and there are several observations identical to those I was confronting 22 plus years ago. Wow, has nothing really changed? Why indeed did I come here?
I can say with a clear conscience that so much good work has happened in the NHS to tackle racism head on and if this blog was a thesis, I would share lots with you. However, despite all the achievements, awards and accolades we cannot, and I know we will not, take our eye off the racism ball that continues to bounce around causing pain, perpetuating discrimination, and inflicting suffering for many. We must guard against going in reverse.
I am confident that NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board will take this report seriously and ensure that we continue to root out racism so that no one - irrespective of their heritage and ethnicity - is disadvantaged when accessing services, is treated unfavourably in applying for jobs, or remains stuck in their role without an opportunity for progression when they are ready to do so.
I write this blog at a time when my own faith in international human rights is at an all-time low, a time when the old adage ‘for injustice to prevail it is sufficient that good people do nothing’ reverberates in my heart and soul. I am seeing injustice my eyes wish I did not see, and I hear of injustice my ears wish I didn’t hear.
One wish I do have for the NHS is for it to be a place where all are equal, and some are not more equal than others. I believe that with continued commitment, the confidence to speak out, and with strong accountability we can get there.
The journey of equality and fairness can be littered with unforeseen obstacles - ‘why indeed would you want to go there’?
In conclusion, I would go there again and again and again as, despite all the setbacks, struggles, grey hairs and moments of despair, we have made and continue to make a crucial difference to improve the lives and wellbeing of our diverse population.
Thank you for reading and have a good weekend.
Ali Jan @haderajh
What else has been happening this week?
Our response to the BRAP Report ‘Too hot to handle’
West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership prides itself on the diversity of our workforce and richness of all communities that form our area. We value the unique perspective of everyone and how diversity in its widest sense continues to support our aspiration that West Yorkshire is a place where everyone can fulfil their potential and thrive. To make this a reality we cannot lose sight of the impact of racial trauma within our communities.
A timely reminder of this is the latest report, ‘Too hot to handle’ from BRAP published this week (5 February 2024) which explores the impact of racism within the NHS. You can read our response to the report on our website.
Minister praises ‘heartening’ progress of Bradford District’s Family Hubs in their work to support families
Health Minister Andrea Leadsom, MP and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, said Bradford District’s Family Hubs and Start for Life programme has made ‘heartening’ progress, at her visit to Farcliffe Family Hub on 2 February.
The visit was an opportunity for Health Minister Leadsom, who oversees public health, Start for Life and primary care nationally, to speak with the Family Hubs and Start for Life workforce, and hear from families about their experiences of the facilities and services available.
Bradford District’s Family Hubs provide free support, advice, and services for families with children up to age 19 (25 with SEND) and at every stage of family life. The government-funded Family Hubs and Start for Life programme is particularly focussed on support for families at the beginning of their child’s life.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has announced its advice to Government for the COVID-19 vaccine programme in spring this year.
Similar to previous spring and autumn campaigns, the Committee’s advice is to offer the vaccine to those at high risk of serious disease and who are therefore most likely to benefit from vaccination.
True Trauma Tales – new podcast from Leeds
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust launches a brand-new podcast series this month that tells incredible stories from the Leeds Major Trauma Centre. True Trauma Tales hears the real-life stories from people who have suffered life-changing traumatic injuries and have recovered thanks to care from specialists at the Major Trauma Centre in Leeds.
Each episode focuses on a different story, told first-hand by the people whose lives have undergone catastrophic injury, and who have then undergone lengthy recoveries as they seek to repair their lives. New episodes air weekly from Tuesday 13 February. True Trauma Tales is available on podcast platforms or listen on the LTHT website.
Suicide prevention podcast series
The third episode of a new podcast series aimed at supporting health and care staff who work with people in suicidal crisis hears those with experience address worries from staff around having discussions with people who are suicidal.
The series, called ‘Surviving Crisis: Learning from Lived Experience’ uses insights from frontline health and care staff who were asked in advance on what they would like discussed.
Listen to this episode and more online on the suicide prevention website.
Prestigious title of Queen’s Nurse
Fiona Throp, Community Advanced Clinical Practitioner at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust has been given the prestigious title of Queen’s Nurse (QN) by community nursing charity The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI). You can read more on the Trust’s website. Photo shows Fiona Throp (left) receiving her award from Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, QNI Vice President and Patron of the Mary Seacole Trust Photo credit: QNI.
NHS Pharmacy First
Following the expansion of services offered by pharmacists, announced as part of NHS pharmacy first last month, throughout February NHS England are continuing to promote how community pharmacists can now help patients. Pharmacists can now provide support for seven common conditions without needing to see a GP. A video from Dr James Thomas, Medical Director at West Yorkshire ICB is helping to raise awareness of the service. Almost 95% of pharmacies across the North East and Yorkshire region will offer this new service. Read more here.
