Portfolio spotlight: Integrated Health and Adult Care
Published: 29 December 2023
Councillor Alison Martin chats to mums at the Breastfeeding Club at Becket Family Hub
Councillor Alison Martin, Cabinet Member for Integrated Health and Adult Care looks back on the year and ahead to 2024
Since becoming the Cabinet Member in May this year, I’ve enjoyed working closely with Council Officers and partners on key areas of focus in 2023.
My priorities have been to focus on health inequalities and childhood obesity, to develop engagement with carers and people who need care, to introduce reforms to improve adult social care services in the city and to progress health and care integration through the Integrated Care Partnership (ICP).
Health inequalities form a strategic priority for the Integrated Care Strategy for Derby and Derbyshire, which all the ICP partners signed off in June. In Derby, we have specific projects addressing some of the root causes of unequal access to health care in the city and I hope this work can be extended. The issue of inequality in health is one that runs through all our work in public health and care, and we need to work with people to see improvement.
Childhood obesity levels in the city are concerning and I am very pleased to be a member of the Children’s Healthy Weight Strategy Group. I have visited schools to see some of the outstanding examples of healthy lifestyle education we have in the city, and during Breastfeeding Awareness Week, I visited a breastfeeding club in the city and got the chance to meet new Derby mothers and chat to them about how important a healthy start is in life.
Whilst social care budgets are under strain, we can and will deliver good quality care in Derby to meet the needs of adults with learning disabilities, the elderly, and people with mental health issues. The work to deliver and improve that care never stops, and I have stressed the need to listen to and work with everyone concerned so that they are more involved in decisions about their care. We are holding our first Carers’ Forum in January.
It is now firmly acknowledged that health and care deliver more for people when the services are working together in an integrated way. This year has seen us move further towards fully integrated working with Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust in relation to Derby’s home care and hospital discharge services.
Looking ahead to 2024, I hope to continue the important work we’ve begun this year with our partners. As the current Chair of the Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Partnership, I have been working with partners to look at overcoming the barriers to further integration, with the aim of better serving the needs of people in the city and county.