The role of Shelford members in improving health
The role of Shelford members in improving health
1 February 2024 · Shelford Group
entry-content”> In this blog, Policy Fellow Emily Hughes sets out how Shelford members are developing their thinking and approach with regard to improving health for their local populations.
Policy thinking in recent years has seen the government, NHS, and wider society place greater emphasis on preventing illness and improving not only life expectancy, but the number of years we can expect to live in good health. While the importance of providing safe and effective healthcare to patients in need cannot be overstated, there is growing consensus that equally, we must focus our efforts on reducing avoidable illness and supporting people to stay well for as long as possible.
Our health outcomes are determined by a range of different influences, commonly referred to as the social determinants of health. Many of these determinants fall outside of our direct remit as healthcare providers, and we recognise in these instances our roles as partners and advocates for our local populations. At the same time, there are significant opportunities for acute healthcare providers to directly improve population health. The role of the provider in this context needs to be more clearly articulated, as well as more ambitious.
Collectively, Shelford Group members employ over 175,000 people, and had over 19 million patient contacts in 2022-23 We are deeply rooted within major cities, some of which see the highest levels of deprivation in England, and we deliver a full range of community, secondary, and tertiary care. It is within this context that we wish to better articulate our role in improving health, and to challenge ourselves to go further.
To support this thinking, Shelford Strategy Directors have been working to break down the various ways in which members contribute to improving health for their local populations (see framework). This includes factors over which we have direct control – for example, being a good employer – and approaches that require partnership, working more effectively across our local systems.
Shelford framework for improving health
Developing this framework has allowed us to think more purposefully as a Group about our roles as acute providers, and to consider how we develop our approaches to go further. It has also prompted us to refresh one of our strategic priorities, expanding our work on anchor collaborations to include the broader elements of integration and population health.
The framework is made up of five areas:
- Influencing the social determinants of health as anchor institutions, through widening access to quality employment, procuring for social value, using capital and estates to support communities, working more closely with local partners, and adopting sustainable practices. Example: King’s College Hospital is partnered with Project SEARCH to provide 12-month internshi
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