One Bromley Local Care Partnership

In the last year, we achieved something in our careers that we have never done before; we had half a million pounds shifted from the acute trust into community services to back up the work we did around discharge during the pandemic so we can continue to invest in services to help the system keep moving.

Kim Carey, Interim Director of Adult Social Services (DASS), London, Borough of Bromley

About the partnership

1. One Bromley Local Care Partnership is a well-established partnership at place which brings together senior leaders that share a collective responsibility for services in Bromley.
2. It brings together local NHS health providers, the council, commissioners and voluntary sector to more formally work together to deliver better care for all.

What has gone well

1. This group of senior leaders oversees the health and social care strategy but has had no formal mandate. Nevertheless, this is used as a ‘sounding board’ from where senior leaders have rolled out formal decisions either through the governance structure of health and care or through the local council.
2. Bromley was also announced as the winner of the Health and Care Integration award at the MJ Achievement Awards on September 17, 2021.
3. One Bromley Local Care Partnership awards recognise Bromley health care workers for their commitment, resilience, and everything they do on a day-to-day basis.

Challenges experienced and overcome

1. One Bromley focuses largely on adult services and there is an awareness that more children’s services colleagues need to be brought in.
2. There is a challenge around changing structures within Southeast London and what that will mean from Bromley. Our history of working together means we are well placed to manage this.

Results

1. Half a million pounds shifted from acute trust into both community health services and social care services to continue to invest and sustain services and meet local demands.
2. Community Champions Programme to recruit members of the community to volunteer to reach more residents with important health messages.
3. Single point of contact hosted by Bromley Healthcare means that residents are able to leave the Princess Royal University hospital, and other hospitals in Southeast London sooner.
4. The Bromley Single Point of Access was established in April 2020 and brings together One Bromley partners to provide a single point of access to all community discharge pathways. It provides acute to community, clinician to clinician hand over with immediate access to a range of services.

What made the difference

1. Strong voluntary sector representation: partners have a single voice via the Bromley Third Sector Enterprise (BTSE).
2. Evidence-based: the data team that provides the evidence-base for One Bromley’s activities.
3. Public health focus: the borough-based Director with a public health background drives the population health agenda.