The Beeston and Middleton Local Care Partnership (LCP), which also covers Hunslet and Holbeck, is working together on several priorities, which will help improve the health and wellbeing of people who live in those communities.
Over the past couple of years we have focused on building connections, developing our understanding of the ‘local offer’, and identifying priorities that we can all work together on, with a commitment to being responsive to the needs of local people. Through this partnership we work with local GP surgeries, namely Beeston Village Surgery, City View Medial Practice, Shafton Lane Surgery, Leeds City Medical Practice, Church Street, Oakley Medical Practice, South Bank Surgery, Lingwell Croft Surgery, and Arthington Medical Centre.
We have identified three priority areas: frailty, digital inclusion, and mental health.
Population health management – frailty
Through the population health management frailty programme, we have taken a data-driven approach to supporting and designing interventions for local people who are over 65 years of age, moderately frail, living with COPD, and having little or no contact with statutory services.
The population health management approach allows for more proactive and person-centred care planning methods when working with people. We will establish a care coordinator role for Beeston and Middleton, who will interact and work with our priority cohort of people, working with them to establish what matters to them and to explore local resources available to support them.
This work is currently in development, but once in place, will provide an exciting new approach in supporting our local people to improve their health.
Digital inclusion pilot project
Healthwatch Leeds’ report on ‘Digitising Leeds: Risks and opportunities for reducing health inequalities in Leeds’ has highlighted the inequalities certain communities may face when accessing digitised health and care services.
COVID-19 has shown a significant decline in service usage, and the unmet needs of vulnerable communities. The lockdown helped to identify the benefits of going digital and has accelerated the process of health and care services becoming more digitised. Despite its benefits, this has presented some issues for those who do not have access to digital equipment or have low digital skills and motivation.
Beeston and Middleton, due to its diverse demographic, has been identified as an area of great potential to the scope and design interventions for digitising health services. We are looking at how we can work together to provide support to people who are unable to access health and care services due to being digitally excluded. The goal is to develop and test a place-based model for enabling inclusion to digitised health and care services, and the learning from the development and implementation of this model will inform the future development of digital health and care services to ensure they are inclusive across Leeds. The LCP will be working with a range of partners, including 100% Digital Leeds, to develop this model. There has been an expression of interest from several services, and our activity so far has included understanding the local context, what is missing, and what each partner organisation offers digitally.
We are still in the early stages of the project, but partners are motivated to develop this pilot and share learning with the rest of the city.
Mental health
Mental health is an increasingly important issue, which has been heightened by COVID-19 and its uncertainty. The lockdown measures and socialising restrictions have been challenging for all, whether in terms of financial hardships or lack of social interactions. We would like to make a difference in the lives of those who might be struggling with their mental well-being, by ensuring that the right support is accessible and available when needed. We will be exploring what is already available, any gaps we can address, and how we can use our services to work together and improve the mental wellbeing of our local people.
How to get involved
We are keen to include more partners across the patch, in particular those who can support our current priorities and community groups. If you would like more information or to join us, please contact lcht.lcpdevelopment@nhs.net.