Black Country ICS Healthier Futures stakeholder newsletter – July edition

July 8, 2024

Welcome to the July edition of our Healthier Futures Newsletter.

By now we will all be thinking about the future of the NHS with the newly elected government in place. Here in the Black Country we will continue to work with our partners to seek to improve the health of our population.

This edition shares summer and pharmacy campaigns, and how important talking about death and grief is when we worked together to deliver Dying Matters Week in late May.

We also share the latest updates from our Cancer and Out of Hospital boards with you. These updates share the work the boards do and their achievements across the System.

As usual, this edition showcases the great, and varied work going on in each of our places. Dudley hosted a special sign café for deaf and hearing loss people which was well attended and found to be helpful by attendees. Read about how Dudley Council have also been giving out toothbrushes and combatting loneliness with ‘Say hello’ benches inspired by comedian John Bishop. Sandwell have been busy educating safe swimming and offering children free swimming at their pools, whilst Walsall has been working in partnership to deliver on a two year diabetes programme which has been hailed a success by improving residents health and wellbeing. Wolverhampton highlighted infant mental health and wellbeing week in June by sharing the range of activities delivered across the city, as well as information on the Healthy Child Wolves App.

Read also stories about innovation and advances in healthcare procedures and services from our partners in this edition. Russell’s Hall hospital welcomed its 1000th patient on the Paediatric Virtual Ward, with the team leading the service also getting royal seal of approval at the Royal Garden Party for their great work. Across in Walsall Manor Hospital, visiting fairies help mums-to-be make an informed choice about whooping cough vaccinations! Not only do we have fairies in this edition, but on p21 you can read and see our superhero 5k fun runners (spot the familiar faces) for Dudley Group NHS Charity.

Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust showcases partnership working on a national project called WorkWell to support people to find and retain employment, and you can also read the latest update on the Edward Street Hospital refurbishment on p24.

This edition shares the work around homelessness and a workshop that was held to support Black Country partners to explore how best we work together to tackle homelessness and its issues.

Finally, the Our People section is bursting with Royal Garden Party attendees in their finest attire and also shares many special events and awards that our fabulous staff have worked hard to achieve. I feel so proud when I read about our staff successes.

Download the July newsletter or catch up on previous editions on our ICS website.

Best wishes

Jonathan Fellows

Chair, Black Country Integrated Care Partnership