Your Healthcare celebrates its 15th birthday
August 1st marks the 15th birthday of Your Healthcare CIC.
Commenting on this milestone, managing director Ed Montgomery said: ”I meet various stakeholders as part of my job, most, but not all, working in health and social care. One thing that always strikes me is their interest in the social enterprise model.
“Our decision back in 2010 to spin out from the NHS and create a membership organisation with more autonomy, sense of ownership and a more empowering culture, was not taken lightly. In many ways it would have been easier to remain within the NHS, but I think I can confidently say now, 15 years later, that the decision was the right one.
“Your Healthcare is stable, trusted by its partners, financially solvent, has a record of innovation and research and high levels of employee engagement. Our most recent staff survey results reflect a workforce that is happy and confident, with scores in the high nineties for issues such as pride in the services we deliver and good relationships with colleagues.
“Over the past five years in particular, the healthcare landscape has changed significantly. COVID-19; changes in government; an uncertain economic environment; rapid advances in digital technology and AI; hybrid working and an NHS under extreme pressure, have all brought their own challenges. The YH response has been robust and effective: building support with partners; focusing on high quality delivery; deploying digital expertise for local benefit; and developing partnerships with GPs in preparation for our crucial role in neighbourhood teams.
“When describing Your Healthcare to stakeholders I am never short of examples to illustrate our success. In the digital arena I am able to highlight our role running the regional Child Health Information Service (CHIS), which collates information from a variety of sources to create a single health record for children and young adults aged 0 – 19. I am not aware of many community health and social care providers who have a similar responsibility. Similarly, it is not commonplace to find community providers who also run the IT infrastructure for local GPs, as we have done successfully for several years.
“I always like highlighting our Rapid Response Service – set up in 2010 and paving the way for similar services around the country. It was not until 2021 that the NHS introduced a standard for urgent care response, reflecting our own rapid response model. And describing the smooth transition of the Reablement Service from the Royal Borough of Kingston’s social care team to Your Healthcare, enables me to show our flexibility and adaptability.
“There are aspects of our model which bring benefits to our local community that are less well-known. Our low vacancy rates, very limited agency spend and low sickness rates, and the fact that we own our main building and don’t need to budget for rental costs, means we have the resources to reinvest and strengthen our services every year.
“The NHS 10 Year Health Plan, with its focus on shifting care from hospital to community and changing analogue to digital, presents immense opportunities for Your Healthcare. We are very well placed to respond – our pivotal role in the development of the Proactive Anticipatory Care approach shows how integrated neighbourhood working with our partners is a natural extension of the way we deliver our core services.
“As we celebrate this 15-year milestone, I send a sincere thankyou to our amazing staff members for creating, developing and promoting the Your Healthcare way of working, and for the exceptional care that it enables them to deliver every day.”
