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A new health academy has been launched to improve the health and wellbeing of people living in Lancashire and South Cumbria.
The Population Health and Health Equity Academy will see health and care partners across Lancashire and South Cumbria come together to develop a consistent approach to reducing the differences in people’s health.
The academy is a partnership between NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria and The King’s Fund, a charity that works with the NHS to shape health and social care policy.
Dr Andy Knox, associate medical director for Lancashire and South Cumbria, said: “I am so excited as we launch our population health leadership academy for Healthier Lancashire and South Cumbria.
“This ground-breaking partnership with The King’s Fund will not only train and develop, but also empower and equip our healthcare leaders to provide compassionate and wise leadership as they understand how they can tackle health inequalities in every area of Lancashire and South Cumbria.
“Our aspiration is that local clinical leaders, working in partnership with communities, will be at the forefront of change to improve the health and wellbeing of local communities.
“This is a major step forward for Lancashire and South Cumbria as we create a wider workforce that can be adept and skilled in helping to foster and create health and wellbeing in our communities where it is needed.”
The Academy will deliver training on key topics for health and care leaders and staff to support the planned work, including sharing best practice and lessons learned across Lancashire and South Cumbria.
The Academy will also look to develop an online platform to enable the sharing of intelligence, publications, case studies, videos, useful weblinks and online training.
At an event organised to launch the Academy earlier this month, participants learned about new approaches to tackling differences in people’s health, including collaborative leadership, community engagement and empowerment, tackling health inequalities and improving population health.
Dr Alison Johnston, GP at Hoad Medical Practice and lead for health inequalities at Ulverston and Mid Furness Primary Care Network said: “I’m really excited to be part of this new programme to help me become a better leader and learn how to work with my community to look at the health of our population. The presence of health inequalities in our area is a real challenge for the health service and GPs like me. People deserve better and I hope we can really use the knowledge and skills gained from this course to tackle and reduce health inequalities once and for all.”
From September, the Academy will welcome a range of national and international speakers to discuss and share their insights on leadership, working with communities, improving population health and tackling the differences in people’s health.
