In a move designed to increase the focus on preventative healthcare, new plans have been announced for NHS England to appoint a new NHS Integrated Care Board Chair in each of Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire, who will also serve as the Mayor’s Health Commissioner.
Reporting jointly to the health service and local mayors, these new leaders will be tasked with driving improvements that directly improve people’s health – reporting directly to democratically elected mayors.
By working closely with local councils, health providers and community services, the Commissioners will help ensure decisions are made by those who understand their local communities, improving coordination and making services more responsive to local needs.
The trial is part of the government’s plans to tackle health inequalities, end the NHS postcode lottery, and close health inequality gaps within and between regions, so everyone lives well for longer.
This will align with Greater Manchester’s status as a Prevention Demonstrator and South Yorkshire proposal for Prevention Accelerator status.
The value of devolution
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting says: “Andy Burnham and Oliver Coppard are two Mayors who’ve placed the public health at the heart of their mayoral agendas. They have more influence over what determines health, in their regions, as Mayors, than I do, as their Health Secretary. Frankly and obviously, Andy knows Greater Manchester, and Oliver knows South Yorkshire, better than wonks in Whitehall. And their theory of change is that if they had more levers and more control, they’d spend money more wisely and deliver better health outcomes across their regions. So we’re going to put that to the test with two new health devolution deals.
“The new chairs of their ICBs will, in effect, become like Deputy Mayors for health. They will work with me, Andy and Oliver, to continue to drive improvements to health system performance, but their Mayors will take responsibility for driving improvements to health and care from cradle to grave, and testing whether this model would be more effective at driving the shifts from hospital to community, from sickness to prevention, than the conventional NHS model.”
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham says: “This is a landmark moment in a decade-long journey of health devolution in Greater Manchester. We’ve built a strong model of partnership working across the NHS, local government, our voluntary and faith sectors and community parters – all focused on improving health for our residents.
“The Secretary of State has recognised those efforts, and we thank him for the action he is taking today.
“A study published in The Lancet in 2022 found that, following the devolution of health and care, healthy life expectancy rose faster in Greater Manchester than other areas before the pandemic.
“Now we have the potential to get back on track and go even further, creating the right conditions for everyone to live healthier lives. A Health Commissioner will help us pioneer a radical new way of delivering public services that’s better for our communities and better for the public purse.
“We’re working with Government on making Greater Manchester the blueprint for prevention. For too long our public services have been trapped in short-term cycles of costly crisis intervention. We want to show that investing in early help is a more effective way of spending public money – providing support to improve people’s lives and prevent them falling into crisis in the first place.”
South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard adds: “For all too many people today, being born here in South Yorkshire means growing up and growing old in poor health. That’s why I’ve made health a focus of my job from day one of becoming Mayor; because I know too many people face too many barriers on their journey to becoming and staying healthy.
“Devolution gives us the chance to take control of our own future, and tackle those big challenges that people face across South Yorkshire. Our New Mayoral Health Commissioner will help to bring together the work being done across the NHS and local councils, with the work being done here at the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.
“That will mean we can design and deliver joined-up, locally led solutions to the long-standing health challenges across South Yorkshire, pulling on every lever we have to tackle some of the biggest problems we face. Together I’m determined to make South Yorkshire the healthiest region in the country and this is another significant step on that journey.”
The Greater Manchester Integrated Board Chair role is now open to applicants. The South Yorkshire role is being finalised and will be advertised in due course.
