News

As many of you know, we are on track to bring together Barnet, Enfield and Haringey NHS Trust and Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust to formally create a new trust by October 2024.

For this to be formally approved we must submit a business case to NHS England. Part of this business case is explaining what we think the benefits will be to our patients.

To support this process we have appointed patient benefits case leads for our 3 priority areas. These areas are:

• Older Adults
• Working Age Adults (Inpatients)
• Crisis

Our leads have been engaging with a range of different stakeholders including service users, carers, staff, the voluntary sector, and local authorities to hear more about what is important to them during this process.

On Wednesday 24 April we ran a session with our Governors and our Non-executive directors to find out what their thoughts were on the benefits for patients but also to discuss the challenges that may be faced during the process.

Valuable feedback and insights were shared during the session. The group agreed on the benefits of bringing Barnet, Enfield and Haringey NHS Trust and Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust together but emphasised the need for a concrete action plan to move forward effectively. Central to success is robust communication with other partners and a long-term vision beyond a formal integration. The importance of offering choice across boroughs and ensuring joined-up care to avoid redundant information sharing resonated strongly. Recognising the significance of integrating mental health services with acute and physical health needs, discussions also underscored the importance of acknowledging challenges and facilitating necessary changes. Primary care and community engagement were highlighted as pivotal, with emphasis on understanding local dynamics. NHS leads echoed these sentiments, stressing the need for implementation, delivery, and clear pathways for realising benefits. Addressing obstacles, fostering partner engagement, and creating a culture of collaboration emerged as priorities. Quality improvement processes and tracking impact were deemed essential, given the complexity of cultural change and the diverse nature of the boroughs involved. An annual review mechanism was proposed to ensure ongoing assessment and adaptation. Overall, the session laid a solid foundation for continued collaboration and progress toward shared objectives.

Thank you so much to everyone who attended.

If you have any questions or thoughts on the patient benefits case please email:

beh-tr.onetrustpatientsbenefitscasefeedback@nhs.net

 

Read below to find out what some of our governors had to say after the event: