Primary care latest updates

Integrated Care Northamptonshire (ICN) is excited to bring you an in-depth conversation about the importance of LGBTQ+ equality and inclusion within our health and care workforce. Join us from 12:30pm to 2pm on Monday 26 February 2024 for this online Leadership Matters Conversation session to celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month.

LGBTQ+ History Month is an annual celebration that provides education and insight into the issues faced by the LGBTQ+ community and works to combat prejudice against them.

This year, the theme for LGBTQ+ History month is Medicine – #UnderTheScope, celebrating LGBTQ+ people’s contributions to the field of medicine and healthcare, both historically and today.

Our Leadership Matters Conversation on 26 February is an opportunity to shine a light on local achievements within Northamptonshire, where you will hear about LGBTQ+ achievements in medicine, in the workplace and the positive impact that LGBTQ+ reverse mentoring has had on senior leadership.

Split into two parts and hosted on Microsoft Teams, the session will start with a discussion from Anamika Joshi, NHFT’s Equality and Engagement Manager, on the fantastic work NHFT has done as a Stonewall Diversity Champion.  NHFT recognises the potential of an LGBTQ+ workforce and strives for a workplace culture that is more welcoming, diverse and inclusive for everyone. NHFT values the needs of today’s diverse workforce and is committed to empowering LGBTQ+ employees to thrive.

In the second half of the session Aaron Scott from North Northamptonshire Council and Alison Gilmour from NHFT talk about their experiences with the Reverse Mentoring programme. Reverse mentoring offers members of staff across our integrated care system with protected characteristics the opportunity to mentor senior leaders to help them gain insight into the experiences of colleagues through safe, honest, open, and respectful conversations.

We look forward to you joining us!

Register your interest for the event here 

Read Under The Scope - Celebrating Local LGBTQ+ Achievements…

Welcome to the February 2024 edition of ICN Today, Integrated Care Northamptonshire's e-newsletter for health and care colleagues, stakeholders and the wider community.

In this edition, we bring you news on a visit to our county from the NHS's national strategy chief, the outcome of a consultation on the provision of short breaks for disabled children, the success of a lung screening programme and the arrival of the ICB's new interim Chief Medical Officer.

There's also an update on the continuing rollout of the Northamptonshire Care Record, the end of the autumn/winter COVID-19 vaccination programme, and the launch of a new online research hub and an education suite for our integrated care system.

Meanwhile, it's the turn of Age UK Northamptonshire CEO Chris Duff to take on our Three in 60 Challenge, and much more!

Read the February 2024 edition of ICN Today.

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Find our ICN Today archive at icnorthamptonshire.org.uk/icntoday

Read February 2024 edition of ICN Today newsletter now available…

During Race Equality Week on Wednesday 7 February, Integrated Care Northamptonshire will be holding a virtual drop-in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Staff Engagement ‘Let’s Talk’ session exclusively for global ethnic minority colleagues across our integrated care system.

It is important to all of us that we create inclusive workplaces where colleagues feel respected, valued and heard. So that we can encourage a culture of openness and honesty, it is essential that we listen to staff to understand their views on pertinent issues and hear about workplace experiences, so we can learn what does and does not work. We will use any feedback to help shape future strategy and action planning.

The ‘Let’s Talk’ session will also be an opportunity for us to share with you the vision for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion within our integrated care system here in Northamptonshire.

Let’s Talk - Wednesday 7 February – 12.30pm to 1.30pm

Go to the Primary Care Portal event

Read Let’s Talk about Equality, Diversity and Inclusion this Race Equality Week…

NHS England's national Chief Strategy Officer Chris Hopson has paid a visit to Northamptonshire to learn more about innovation and collaboration in our integrated care system.

Colleagues welcomed Chris to the county on Friday 19 January, where he first visited Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust's (NHFT) Highfield Clinical Care Centre to see some of our innovative mental health services – including the Mental Health Number telephone service (run by Mind and NHFT), the Crisis Response Unit vehicle launched in 2023, and the Acute Liaison Mental Health Service.

Next on the agenda was a tour of Northampton General Hospital (NGH), where he was shown the state-of-the-art surgical robot, which is being used to support life-saving cancer surgery, and the one-stop gynaecology clinic. He was also given the lowdown on an award-winning sustainability project to reduce the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) at the hospital.

From there it was off to the Hope Centre in Northampton to see work to address health inequalities in action, with a public health team from West Northamptonshire Council delivering health checks and vaccinations for homeless people and rough sleepers.

Finally Chris then visited the Turn Furlong Recovering Independence Bed Unit, where clinical staff from NHFT and social care staff from WNC provide collaborative short-term care to support people in their return home after a hospital stay.

Eileen Doyle, Chief Operating Officer for NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board, said: "We were delighted to welcome Chris to Northamptonshire. It was fantastic to have the opportunity to showcase some of the great work we are doing here to provide better care for people who live and work in our county and Chris spoke really positively about the effectiveness of our integrated working."

Read Northamptonshire welcomes NHS strategy chief…

In recent years, there have been numerous listening and discussion events focusing on race equality in the workplace.  However, now is the time for action so that real change can take place.

Integrated Care Northamptonshire will be celebrating Race Equality Week on Tuesday 6 February 2024.  We are delighted to invite Steve Morrison (Regional Director of Workforce & Organisational Development for NHS England in the Midlands), and Kuvy Seenan, (Head of Equality and Inclusion at NHS England Midlands), to talk to us about how together, we can make positive progress to create an anti-racist, compassionate and inclusive working culture.  

Everyone has a role to play in the fight for racial equality in the workplace, from the top of each organisation to the b7ottom. The sooner we act, the sooner change can become our reality!

‘Race, equality and inclusion is everyone’s business.’

Join us for this online session taking place at 12:30pm on Tuesday 6 February on Microsoft Teams.

Steve and Kuvy have jointly developed the ‘Time for action: Midlands Workforce, Race Equality, and Inclusion (WREI) Strategy’. This strategy aims to create an anti-racist, compassionate and inclusive workforce. It is designed to tackle both structural and day to day racisms that occurs. The idea behind the strategy is that by improving the quality of work life and removing barriers to professional development for ethnic minorities will help improve the experience of all the workforce regarding how the NHS tackles discrimination.

Join Kuvy and Steven as they discuss their work on the WREI and why the strategy is important –  looking at its key principles of educate, challenge and support. The discussion will also look at what this means for our health and care organisations and how we can all work together to tackle discrimination and provide fairer working environments.

Register your interest for this LMC session on Tuesday 6 February

About Steve Morrison

Steve is the Regional Director of Workforce and Organisational Development for NHS England Midlands and has worked with NHS England since 2012. His current role allows him to work with systems and trusts to ensure the delivery of NHS Long Term Workforce Plan. Throughout his career Steve has been involved in large scale organisational change, leadership development and the management of multi-disciplinary teams. This has enabled him to see and understand the negative impact for organisations and their employees when those organisations were not inclusive, diverse, and welcoming of contributions from all.

About Kuvy Seenan 

Kuvy is the head of equality and inclusion for NHS England Midlands. Growing up in Mauritius, Kuvy moved to the UK to train as a psychiatric nurse, since then he has worked within the NHS for about 20 years in various roles. His current role allows him to provide a strategic steer on tackling workforce equality issues across the region and enabling a system approach to inclusion.

Read It’s time to Listen, Act, and Change this Race Equality Week!…