Bold new plans shared at the ACS away day
Members of our Adult Community Services (ACS) gathered at HQ to hear the bold plans we are making to transform neighbourhood healthcare services and how we are becoming a more inclusive place to work.
In response to our recent staff survey, the away day was structured around our pledge to have more divisional conversations, identifying ‘teams and themes’ and agreeing to local action plans.
There are approximately 1,050 colleagues in ACS. Around 87% are female, 9% have a disability, 44% are from an ethnic minority background and 2% identify as LGBTQ+.
Setting the scene, Bal Everitt, Head of EDI took ACS colleagues through our current aims as an organisation to proactively tackle inequality, discrimination, harassment, bullying and abuse.
To ensure our workforce is reflective of the communities we serve, and that we are supporting colleagues with protected characteristics, our EDI team discussed their new Equality Inclusion and Health Inequalities Framework 2025-2030 - where a sneak peak of our new ‘United Against Racism’ campaign was shared.
Later in the session, Chris Holt, Chief Transformation Officer shared our key achievements and plans for integrated care in our six localities and 35 neighbourhoods across BSol.
In line with the Government’s pledge to transform the NHS into a neighbourhood health service, a pilot was launched in the east of Birmingham to test the possibilities of how we could make this a reality.
At Washwood Heath Health Centre , hospital doctors, GPs, nurses, occupational therapists, council social care teams, mental health professionals and charity staff work under one roof – sharing patient information via a central system.
Fast forward 12 months, Chris was pleased to share that the Centre has already seen huge improvements such as a 32% reduction in GP appointments and 15% fewer visits to emergency departments. ACS colleagues were invited to share their thoughts that will be taken on board when shaping the future of neighbourhood healthcare delivery.
The session ended with Rupinder (Bobby) Chal, Divisional Director thanking the ACS division for all their hard work and commitment to our patients. Bobby also shared the services and provisions we have at BCHC in place to support the professional development, mental and physical health of our colleagues.