• Before the inauguration of the Integrated Care Boards, the Social Care Integration workstream (Workforce Hub SYREC) had already established, from the past four years, strong links and partnership working within place and region. This foundation would prove invaluable to the meaningful exploration of establishing integrated workforce support and all the advantages and implications that could bring.
• In 2022, an evaluative research project was undertaken accompanied by a literature review surrounding the establishment of parity between health and social care sectors. This served as the foundation for pursuing central government guidelines and the advantages of using an integrated workforce approach to assist in South Yorkshire’s Health and Social Care’ workforce development and growth.
• In South Yorkshire, there are over 320k individuals who having a role in care, either paid or unpaid. This social and economic value could not be underestimated and needed to be recognised as such. The mandate for exploration was established early 2024 and the analysis began.

Working Together and Intelligence

Footprint: 4 places (Sheffield, Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham), 36 neighbourhoods, 4 Local Authorities, 1 Ambulance Service, 186 general practices, 5 Acute hospital trusts, 6k+ VCSE organisations, 3 community mental health and community trusts.

Developing the Area of Focus

Legislation Guidance Literature

• Health and Care Act 2022
• Home – A Workforce Strategy for Adult Social Care in England
• NHS Long Term Plan
• NHS England » We are the NHS: People Plan for 2020/21 – action for us all
• Independent investigation of the NHS in England – GOV.UK
• NHS England » Core20PLUS5 (adults) – an approach to reducing healthcare inequalities
• Get Britain Working White Paper – GOV.UK
• The 10 Year Health Plan: Our Recommendations | The King’s Fund
• Moving Care Closer To Home: Three Unanswered Questions | The King’s Fund
• Plan for Change – GOV.UK
• Kickstarting Economic Growth – GOV.UK
• English Devolution White Paper – GOV.UK

Intelligence Gathering

• DATA Analysis
• Face to Face discussions
• Online
• Group meetings
• Think Tanks – i.e. Kings Fund
• Summit Meetings
• Pilot Projects

Involvement in national projects and study

• Skills for Care – National Adult Social Care Workforce Strategy
• DHSC – Care Career Pathway

Governance Structuring

• Nursing Workforce within Social Care
• Commitment to Carers Partnership
• H&SC Integration Programme

Forming the focus

• QSIR Training
• Stakeholder Analysis
• Fishbone Analysis
• Driver Diagram
• Sustainability Analysis

Listening and Learning

• Focus Groups
• Thematic Analysis
• Lunch & Learn Webinars

Stakeholder Engagement

Unpaid carers & supporting organisations/Centre for Care/Primary Care members/ADASS/Local Authorities/Providers/Personal Assistants/Volunteers/Colleges/Hero’s for Health/NHSE/Universities/SACMA/Acute Trusts/ICB Programme Leads/Pharmacy/Dentistry/Ophthalmology

Legacy Learning

• SCC Workforce Board
• H&SC Workforce Hub – Board
• Carer Conferences
• BSc – Leadership and Management in H&SC Integration

Quality Service Improvement and Redesign (QSIR) Application

The SY ICB Executive Team took a clear strategic decision to assist the workforce by providing a methodology and the resources they needed to create sustainable initiatives for their programs.

QSIR has been a consistent aspect of the program’s growth throughout the last twelve months. utilising a variety of available tools and having the option to review at any time if external factors, such as a change in the national government, forcing change that was not anticipated (ERS 2024).

Working Together Pathway

During the development of the Health and Social Care Integration Programme focus areas, the ‘Working Together Pathway’ was in also development mode. A key strategic move was to have the programme included within the approach and align with its key principles:

• Agree shared ways of working
• Prioritise opportunities to work together
• Lead by example
• Be accountable and evidence-based
• Plan for sustainability from the start

This was a way of ensuring the programme supported the ‘Bold Ambitions’ of the SY Integrated Care Partnership Strategy.