Cross Gates Local Care Partnership

We formed our local care partnership just as the COVID-19 pandemic started to spread across Leeds and the UK. The pandemic meant that as partners, we wanted a forum to share information and knowledge, and support each other to best support the people of Cross Gates. Since then, we have continued to develop relationships to identify how we can work together, be that on making Cross Gates a happy place to live or improving health and wellbeing outcomes.

Our partnership brings together local health and wellbeing providers, including local GP surgeries, namely Ashfield Medical Centre, Colton Mill Medical Centre, Family Doctors, and Manston Surgery.

The parts of Leeds we serve borders with the York Road and Seacroft Local Care Partnerships (LCPs). We collaborate with these LCPS through the East Leeds Collaborative, while also focusing on the needs of the people who live in our communities.

Current priorities

Ageing well

We are working together to understand the most significant opportunities to improve health and wellbeing for defined groups of local people. Using data and a population health management approach, we aim to reduce health inequalities and prioritise local needs by focusing on preventative and proactive care. The focus of this new way of working is supporting people with frailty.

So far, the group have agreed on a cohort to initially focus on people living with moderate frailty who care for someone living with dementia. This is such an exciting opportunity to consider the broader determinants of health that we know impact significantly on local people, and work alongside a wide range of colleagues, which will strengthen relationships.

At the moment, we are contacting our cohort to find out what matters to them. We will then use this information to guide our next steps for this intervention in line with what people have told us.

Dementia

We have agreed to focus on those in our community who live with dementia and look to improve their lives. We have a subgroup that is currently meeting fortnightly, with the first aim of this project to make Cross Gates a dementia-friendly community.

Alongside local people living with dementia, we have built an action plan to guide our work to make Cross Gates more dementia friendly. There is an emphasis on enhancing community knowledge – be that business, children and young people, or in health and care settings.

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is a natural and beneficial way of feeding infants, and it is supported by the NHS. Although Cross Gates has relatively high breast-feeding initiation and continuation rates, this was agreed to be a priority of the LCP moving out of COVID.

In Cross Gates, there are several resources available for breastfeeding parents, including:

• Cross Gates Children’s Centre: This centre offers a range of services and support for families with children under the age of five, including breastfeeding support and advice.
• Leeds Breastfeeding Support Group: This is a support group for breastfeeding mothers that meets regularly in Leeds. They provide a safe and supportive environment for people to share their experiences and offer each other support.
• La Leche League Leeds: This is a volunteer-led organisation that provides information and support for breastfeeding mothers. They offer monthly meetings, telephone support and online resources.

In addition to these resources, many cafes and public places in Cross Gates and Leeds are breastfeeding-friendly and have facilities for mothers who wish to breastfeed in public. It is important to note that breastfeeding in public is legal and protected by law in the UK.

East Leeds expansion

Along with colleagues from Seacroft Local Care Partnership, we are meeting with planning colleagues from Leeds City Council to ensure health and care services are considered in the upcoming housing expansion plans in East Leeds. Plans show 5000 houses will be built in the area over the next ten years, which will significantly change the requirements for local health and care support. We are working with the Council and other partners to consider how the future of services can be planned to meet this need and what services and estates would be required to support this, and a flourishing community, without negatively impacting current residents and services.

Other areas of interest

As a partnership, we also have some new interests that are still being developed into action plans: Tackling Domestic Violence & Abuse and making Cross Gates a Breastfeeding Friendly community. We hope to share more information on these and other priorities as they develop. We welcome any local groups and organisations interested in either topic to join us.

How to get involved

We are keen to include more partners across the patch, particularly those who can support our current priorities and community groups. If you want more information or join us, don’t hesitate to contact [email protected].