Chief executive update

I am very pleased to begin my monthly update with the news that, together with our partners, our bid to be the provider of Birmingham City Council’s 0-19 years Healthy Child Programme and Family Hubs has proved successful.

The contract will run for five years from March 2027, with an option of an additional two years, and so gives us significant time to build on the work we have already done and make impact for the city’s children and young people.  

This news reflects the commitment, professionalism and dedication shown by our teams every day. The quality of our tender submission was strengthened by the expertise, passion and innovation demonstrated across the service, and we would like to thank everyone who contributed to this achievement. 

We have already started the key mobilisation work which is required to get us all ready for the contract start on 1 March, 2027. 

During September, we held our Annual General and Members’ Meeting, which provided a great opportunity to reflect with partners and stakeholders on progress made in 2025/6 and our plans for 2026/7.

The autumn period is fundamental to delivering our Annual Plan objectives, implementing our Future Operating Model and playing a positive role in developing neighbourhood health through the Birmingham and Solihull Anchor contract. During September, we have also progressed the business case to expand Single Point of Access (SPOA) and Urgent Community Response (UCR) capacity as well as working with GPs on an enhanced frailty pathway.  

Our BCHC Board has approved a Winter Plan that enables BCHC teams to play a full part in supporting urgent and emergency care pathways, with an enhanced response when the system is under pressure and a stronger locality-based response.

We know that Winter will present a significant challenge for teams across the system and are committed to doing all we can to keep people well at home and support people home from hospital quickly through this period. 

As part of this approach our staff flu vaccination campaign has now launched with a focus on the importance of vaccinations in protecting our patients and colleagues from the risk of infection through the Winter. At the same time, the annual national NHS Staff Survey has also opened, and in the build-up we have been focusing on the new six NHS Staff Standards and demonstrating how they are reflected in our ongoing approach. 

Work to create our Future Operating Model programme has moved further into implementation with appointments to our new locality leadership group, in readiness for our “Go Live” in December. We are looking forward to operating in our new locality approach enabling us to deliver the benefits for patients, colleagues and the communities we serve. 

Finally, through October, in common with so many other organisations, we are marking several key awareness initiatives, including: