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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/nov/21/nhs-west-yorkshire-harrogate-health-care-partnership-rob-webster-part-role-create-hope-future
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| Rob Webster: ‘Part of my role is to create hope for the future’ | Rob Webster: ‘Part of my role is to create hope for the future’ |
| (10 days later) | |
| Despite winter being around the corner, Rob Webster does not seem unduly worried. The head of the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership admits the health service is “stress-tested to the extreme”. Webster, who is also chief executive of South West Yorkshire NHS partnership foundation trust, says that although he expects this winter to be “very difficult, with periods of significant pressure”, he is confident the system will manage. | Despite winter being around the corner, Rob Webster does not seem unduly worried. The head of the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership admits the health service is “stress-tested to the extreme”. Webster, who is also chief executive of South West Yorkshire NHS partnership foundation trust, says that although he expects this winter to be “very difficult, with periods of significant pressure”, he is confident the system will manage. |
| That’s a bold statement, given this winter is predicted to tougher than last year’s. “We had one of the toughest winters on record last year so things were incredibly difficult,” he says. “However, most people got good care, most were seen quickly. We saw more people in A&E than we’d seen before; huge volumes of people were coming through.” | That’s a bold statement, given this winter is predicted to tougher than last year’s. “We had one of the toughest winters on record last year so things were incredibly difficult,” he says. “However, most people got good care, most were seen quickly. We saw more people in A&E than we’d seen before; huge volumes of people were coming through.” |
| NHS trusts fear this winter could be ‘more difficult than the last’ | |
| Webster has “high hopes” for next month’s NHS plan, which will set out health priorities for the next decade, but says without “engaged and motivated” staff, the plan “cannot succeed”. And to do that the plan needs to capture their imagination and passion. He also wants it to devolve more planning and delivery of NHS services. This is not surprising, considering his regional role: the partnership of health and social care providers collectively runs the £5.5bn annual healthcare budget for 2.6 million people across a vast area of Yorkshire, from Huddersfield to Harrogate and Leeds. | Webster has “high hopes” for next month’s NHS plan, which will set out health priorities for the next decade, but says without “engaged and motivated” staff, the plan “cannot succeed”. And to do that the plan needs to capture their imagination and passion. He also wants it to devolve more planning and delivery of NHS services. This is not surprising, considering his regional role: the partnership of health and social care providers collectively runs the £5.5bn annual healthcare budget for 2.6 million people across a vast area of Yorkshire, from Huddersfield to Harrogate and Leeds. |
| The idea is that by collaborating more closely, the 12 hospital trusts, nine clinical commissioning groups and eight local councils in the partnership will be better able to keep residents healthier and out of hospital. It is this joint approach that Webster believes will help the region avoid overflowing A&Es, cancellation of non-emergency operations and patients stuck in hospital when they are fit to go home. | The idea is that by collaborating more closely, the 12 hospital trusts, nine clinical commissioning groups and eight local councils in the partnership will be better able to keep residents healthier and out of hospital. It is this joint approach that Webster believes will help the region avoid overflowing A&Es, cancellation of non-emergency operations and patients stuck in hospital when they are fit to go home. |
| Webster has been working in healthcare for nearly 30 years. Times have changed, he says, and so have the demands on the health service. “At the start of my career, people would wait years for operations. Waiting was the thing that blighted the NHS and its reputation. It was the butt of jokes.” There is still work to do: the latest figures show that only one of the region’s six acute hospital trusts met the target to see 95% of A&E patients within four hours, and some hospitals are failing to give patients non-urgent surgery within 18 weeks of being referred by their GP. | Webster has been working in healthcare for nearly 30 years. Times have changed, he says, and so have the demands on the health service. “At the start of my career, people would wait years for operations. Waiting was the thing that blighted the NHS and its reputation. It was the butt of jokes.” There is still work to do: the latest figures show that only one of the region’s six acute hospital trusts met the target to see 95% of A&E patients within four hours, and some hospitals are failing to give patients non-urgent surgery within 18 weeks of being referred by their GP. |
| We need to start thinking about what causes people to be unwell and how we work with them to stay as well as possible | We need to start thinking about what causes people to be unwell and how we work with them to stay as well as possible |
| But getting better is not just down to waiting times or the experience in hospital, argues Webster, who used to run NHS Confederation, which represents NHS trusts. “The idea that your GP refers you to a hospital, you go and get fixed, and go home is redundant for most people,” he says. He wants a change of approach. “We need to start thinking about what causes people to stay well, what causes them to be unwell and how we work with them to stay as well as possible.” That means more integration and joint working, he says. Isn’t that what organisations should be doing anyway? What’s different about this new approach? Webster cites new multidisciplinary teams of clinicians who work with care homes, as well as on hospital wards. This is helping to prevent hospital admissions as well as reduce delayed discharges, he says. | But getting better is not just down to waiting times or the experience in hospital, argues Webster, who used to run NHS Confederation, which represents NHS trusts. “The idea that your GP refers you to a hospital, you go and get fixed, and go home is redundant for most people,” he says. He wants a change of approach. “We need to start thinking about what causes people to stay well, what causes them to be unwell and how we work with them to stay as well as possible.” That means more integration and joint working, he says. Isn’t that what organisations should be doing anyway? What’s different about this new approach? Webster cites new multidisciplinary teams of clinicians who work with care homes, as well as on hospital wards. This is helping to prevent hospital admissions as well as reduce delayed discharges, he says. |
| Webster is particularly anxious to improve mental health. He admits child and adolescent mental health is a worry. In West Yorkshire and Harrogate there are just eight beds available for young people in crisis. “We are making inroads, but people wait too long. There are still children who don’t get enough care. We need to make it much better,” he says. Work is due to start on a £13m inpatient unit in 2019, which will create 18 specialist and a further four psychiatric intensive-care beds. | Webster is particularly anxious to improve mental health. He admits child and adolescent mental health is a worry. In West Yorkshire and Harrogate there are just eight beds available for young people in crisis. “We are making inroads, but people wait too long. There are still children who don’t get enough care. We need to make it much better,” he says. Work is due to start on a £13m inpatient unit in 2019, which will create 18 specialist and a further four psychiatric intensive-care beds. |
| He has introduced a zero-suicide approach where every suicide death is considered preventable, with the aim of reducing suicide by 10% across the West Yorkshire and Harrogate area and by a massive three quarters for those who are in touch with services, through better identification of people at high risk and the use of psychiatric liaison nurses in A&E. It’s an area he has personal experience of: his brother killed himself aged 32, and it came as a huge shock. “It took me 10 years to talk about the death of my brother and to say that he died by suicide, because there’s stigma and shame attached to it.” He is sure that had his brother sought help, he would still be alive today. “I’ve got no doubt that if people like my brother had been able to talk about their feelings, they’d probably still be here.” | He has introduced a zero-suicide approach where every suicide death is considered preventable, with the aim of reducing suicide by 10% across the West Yorkshire and Harrogate area and by a massive three quarters for those who are in touch with services, through better identification of people at high risk and the use of psychiatric liaison nurses in A&E. It’s an area he has personal experience of: his brother killed himself aged 32, and it came as a huge shock. “It took me 10 years to talk about the death of my brother and to say that he died by suicide, because there’s stigma and shame attached to it.” He is sure that had his brother sought help, he would still be alive today. “I’ve got no doubt that if people like my brother had been able to talk about their feelings, they’d probably still be here.” |
| Improving health, cutting delays in hospital discharges and preventing suicide are big challenges, but Webster denies he has bitten off more than he chew. He is doggedly upbeat. “Part of my role as a leader is to create hope, optimism and to plan effectively for the future … We can change things. We are changing things.” | Improving health, cutting delays in hospital discharges and preventing suicide are big challenges, but Webster denies he has bitten off more than he chew. He is doggedly upbeat. “Part of my role as a leader is to create hope, optimism and to plan effectively for the future … We can change things. We are changing things.” |
| Curriculum vitae | Curriculum vitae |
| Age: 50 | Age: 50 |
| Lives: Leeds | Lives: Leeds |
| Family: Married, one son and one daughter | Family: Married, one son and one daughter |
| Education: Parkview comprehensive school; Barrow-in-Furness sixth-form College; University of Newcastle (BSc statistics) | Education: Parkview comprehensive school; Barrow-in-Furness sixth-form College; University of Newcastle (BSc statistics) |
| Career: 2016-present: chief executive, South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS foundation trust; 2016-present: CEO lead for West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership; 2014-16 chief executive, NHS Confederation; 2011–14: chief executive, Leeds community healthcare NHS trust; 2007–11: chief executive, NHS Calderdale; 2006–07: director, Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit, Cabinet Office; 2004–06: national director, Workforce Capacity, Department of Health; 2003–04: programme director, primary care contracts, DH; 2002-03: national director, primary care services, DH; 2001-04 executive director Partnerships for Health PPP; 2000–02: national deputy director general, medical services, DH; 1998–2000: analyst and section head, public expenditure team, DH; 1998: section head, acute services, DH; 1996–97: statistician and section head, waiting, patient’s charter and league tables, DH; 1994–96: statistician and section head, corporate analysis team, DH; 1992–93: assistant statistician and section head, medical workforce planning, DH; 1990–92: assistant statistician, NHS dentistry, DH. Also trustee of Leeds Mencap 2001-11. | Career: 2016-present: chief executive, South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS foundation trust; 2016-present: CEO lead for West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership; 2014-16 chief executive, NHS Confederation; 2011–14: chief executive, Leeds community healthcare NHS trust; 2007–11: chief executive, NHS Calderdale; 2006–07: director, Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit, Cabinet Office; 2004–06: national director, Workforce Capacity, Department of Health; 2003–04: programme director, primary care contracts, DH; 2002-03: national director, primary care services, DH; 2001-04 executive director Partnerships for Health PPP; 2000–02: national deputy director general, medical services, DH; 1998–2000: analyst and section head, public expenditure team, DH; 1998: section head, acute services, DH; 1996–97: statistician and section head, waiting, patient’s charter and league tables, DH; 1994–96: statistician and section head, corporate analysis team, DH; 1992–93: assistant statistician and section head, medical workforce planning, DH; 1990–92: assistant statistician, NHS dentistry, DH. Also trustee of Leeds Mencap 2001-11. |
| Interests: Music, literature, gigs, food, travel, wildlife and ecology, running, Manchester City FC. | Interests: Music, literature, gigs, food, travel, wildlife and ecology, running, Manchester City FC. |
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