Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust is welcoming staff and members of the public to its Board meeting on Thursday 30 May 2019, at its headquarters in New Mill, Saltaire.

The meeting will look at the Trust’s new operational plan, which sets out key service developments across Bradford, Airedale, Wharfedale, Craven and Wakefield for 2019/20. Following the launch of the Trust’s new strategic framework ‘better lives, together’ earlier in the year, the Trust has now submitted its plan to NHS Improvement. The plan includes working with local and regional partners to improve services for local people; helping people to stay well at home; supporting the wellbeing and development of staff; and continuing to involve local communities in shaping the organisation’s work.

The Trust’s vision is to connect people to the best quality care across the communities it serves, making it easier for people to get services where and when they need them, ideally in the community, to improve their experiences and outcomes, and support their recovery and wellbeing.

Chief Executive, Brent Kilmurray, commented on the importance of connecting with communities when developing the plan: “Everyone who is involved with the Trust, whether it’s our staff, the people we care for, or our partners, are really important in shaping our goals for the next five years. Our plan for 2019/20 is ambitious but builds on our strengths, with the aim of connecting people to the best quality care, when and where they need it. We will be working with our partners across health, voluntary and care organisations to deliver, and where necessary, improve our services for the benefit of the local people.”

To bring the strategic goals to life and to ensure continuous quality improvement, the plan focuses on a number of key enabling-projects. Projects include the Children and Adolescent Mental Health service’s (CAMHs) pathways for the year. This service offers support for young people in a range of ways, from working with people with eating disorders, providing treatment and care for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, to offering family therapy.

The plan will also review the Trust’s delivery of its 0-19 Children’s service, which works closely with services such as CAMHs, midwifery and schools. Children’s services include a safeguarding team, school nurses, who strive to help children and young people get the best out of life, and the Health Visiting service, which is available to all new families and has expertise in child health and development.

Other projects in the plan include developing an end of life pathway for patients with dementia, through joint working with the award-winning dementia assessment unit (DAU) at Lynfield Mount Hospital and palliative care. Recognising dying in a timely manner will help to ensure advanced care planning, by looking at the process of care the person with dementia has from when they share their initial concerns, to end of life care.

Members of the public will have an opportunity to understand firsthand how these dementia services work within the communities, through this month’s patient story, which follows Dementia Awareness Week 2019, Monday 20 May – Friday 24 May. The public will hear from the family of a patient who received palliative care from the Trust’s DAU, who praised the unit for the “care, concern and love” given to their mother in her final months of life, and the extension of this support to the family.

The provider of mental health, community health and specialist learning disability services will also discuss upcoming priorities, the chief executive’s monthly report and the monthly performance report. 

Following a Board review of governance arrangement, meetings going forward will now be every other month. The Trust’s next Board meeting will take place ‘on the road’ on Thursday 25 July, 1.30pm – 4.00pm, at Sharing Voices, 10 Mornington Villas, Bradford, BD8 7 HB.