Partnership celebrates Health Inequalities Academy - two years on

West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership (WY HCP) will host a two-day event on 8 and 9 November to mark two years of their Health Inequalities Academy.

The event brings partners together to explore progress, share learning and highlight the work taking place to improve the lives of people and communities most impacted by health inequalities living in West Yorkshire.

Initiatives over the past 12months include:

• Becoming the first Partnership of Sanctuary in the country for going above and beyond to welcome people seeking sanctuary into West Yorkshire, receiving national recognition for our work
• Working with partners, including Leeds GATE, Connecting Roma and Leeds City Council on initiatives to support Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, for example suicide prevention
• Appointing 23 Health Equity Fellows to join an expanded Improving Population Health Fellowship
• Accelerating improvements through the CORE20Plus5 Connector Programme for people who are refugees or seeking asylum
• Supporting pregnant women and their partners to quit smoking through our mums can campaign
• Working with Sussex Integrated Care System and University College London (UCL) on a research pilot project in Bradford to look at how we provide universal healthcare that is accessible and beneficial to all

Robin Tuddenham, Place Lead for Calderdale for NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, CEO for Calderdale Council and Joint Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) of the WY HCP’s Improving Population Health Programme said:

“Never has there been a time when we need to support learning, develop best practice and understand the ways we can collaborate to reduce health inequalities in West Yorkshire.

We need to strive for a future which allows everyone to thrive and overcome the structural and systemic disadvantage they face.”

Dr James Thomas, Medical Director for NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board and joint Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) of the WY HCP’s Improving Population Health Programme said:

“The event helps to explore what we can do together and what we can learn from each other to continue to close the health and wellbeing gap across West Yorkshire. Collaboration is essential if we are to build on our achievements, accelerate progress and ultimately improve lives.”

Dr Sohail Abbas, Chair - Health Inequalities Network, Deputy Medical Director - NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, Director - Reducing Inequalities Alliance, Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership, and GP Partner - Kensington Partnership, Bradford said:

“Our Health Inequalities Academy is bringing people together and enabling collective action to tackle stark health inequalities in our population. By narrowing the gap in health inequalities we are building bridges to better, fairer, healthier futures for all.”

For the first time, events will be held both online and face-to-face.

On Day 1, Wednesday 8 November, the event will look at building capacity across West Yorkshire to address health inequalities, showcase Core20PLUS5 work happening across the district and launch a new health inequalities resources portal. Link to register for day one (online) – 8 November 2023

Day 2, Thursday 9 November, is a face-to-face event in Bradford and will focus on inclusion health, the journey to become a Partnership of Sanctuary, and will feature workshops from third sector partners supporting groups at risk of health inequalities. Use this link to register for day two (face-to-face) – 9 November 2023

For more highlights over the past year read WY HCP’s Improving Population Health Programme’s annual report 2022-23.