This is our regular blog from our Bradford District and Craven community of practice for Primary Care through a Community Lens. Our community of practice is a collaborative, evolving space where professionals learn, connect, and drive real change in healthcare access, service integration, and patient outcomes.
With a history of working in the community and voluntary sector and now the health system – I have often been frustrated at the pace of change and the ability to influence the levers of change. But sometimes it only takes a handful of people to come together, mobilise, and change the world.
Our BDC community of practice only came together nine months ago and our desire to share and learn from each other is increasingly apparent. In the summer, we held an away day where we explored the future of local healthcare and reflected on our journey so far.
We were joined by Professor Becky Malby, a well-known academic interested in health systems and primary care. Becky highlighted the inequality in access to healthcare and the fact that funding for primary care is not always fair – in fact deprived areas often get less than well off areas!
The Carr Hill formula is the national method which works out funding for general practice. It weights funding towards older populations (who tend to have higher healthcare use) which has adverse impact in areas like Bradford with younger but more deprived populations. The debate about the unfairness of the Carr Hill formula has been going on for years, and it’s recently been announced by the government that this is being reviewed to take greater account of deprivation – which could be good news for Bradford District and Craven.
Our away day also gave us space to reflect on the importance of building networks and relationships with the voluntary community and social enterprise sector (VCSE) as partners to help address communities needs. There are many great examples across the country and in Bradford District and Craven – Rethinking pain is one great example that we talked about in detail. It proves that VCSE provision working alongside the primary care offer can deliver big impact. This bespoke service can spend time with a patient and transform their lives and dependence on medication. The service started small as a pilot in the Airedale area but over the last five years has mushroomed to become a Bradford District and Craven wide service led by the VCSE and commissioned by the ICB. This is a great example of the system supporting community partners to lead a different way of working and embedding the change across our place.
What we’ve learnt is that although systems don’t always do the right thing, there are ways to connect, find a shared purpose and make change happen. If you can make the case, provide the evidence in the way funders or commissioners understand, and tap into the power of community, great things can happen. You need belief, resilience, pragmatism, and tenacity – which we’ve got in buckets across Bradford District and Craven.
The community of practice will continue to meet once a month – a peer learning network and a space to share learn and connect. For more details contact Bill Graham Bill.graham2@nhs.net
Bill Graham, Community and Innovation Lead Modality AWC & community of practice facilitator.