14 Apr 2022

St Helens Cares – the integrated health and care system in St Helens which sees organisations working together to improve outcomes for residents - has been shortlisted in the Care and Health Integration category at national Municipal Journal (MJ) Achievement Awards 2022.

St Helens Cares shortlisted for prestigious national award

St Helens Cares – the integrated health and care system in St Helens which sees organisations working together to improve outcomes for residents - has been shortlisted in the Care and Health Integration category at national Municipal Journal (MJ) Achievement Awards 2022.

St Helens Cares was established in 2018 to improve the care for residents and address the growing pressures on health and social care.

Made up of a wide number of public sector providers including NHS St Helens Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG); St Helens Borough Council, St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust; housing group, Torus and voluntary sector partners – St Helens Cares is an integrated approach in supporting people to live well, with a focus on preventing the need for health and social care by supporting people to remain independent for as long as possible.

One of the successes of St Helens Cares to date has been the roll out of a shared care record for each resident in the borough and the development of the Contact Cares - the front door service for any health and care need which sees a wide range of services working closely together to stop avoidable hospital admissions and assist with discharge from hospital and seamless support to get people back home.

The St Helens Cares partnership has also proved invaluable during the pandemic in terms of supporting the most vulnerable in the borough including residents living in care homes, the homeless population, clinically vulnerable and those suffering from mental health problems.  The different health and care partners were able to build on the already established relationships and shared roles and priorities to put the interests of the population ahead of separate organisational interests.

The current priorities of St Helens Cares are focused on mental wellbeing, healthy weight and creating resilient communities and working with communities and partners to co-design actions and set goals to tackle these challenges which have been exacerbated by the pandemic.

Mark Palethorpe, who performs a unique joint role as Executive Director of Integrated Health and Social Care in St Helens and Accountable Officer for St Helens CCG, said: “Being shortlisted at these prestigious awards is testimony to the hard work that has gone on behind the scenes from our dedicated workforce who are passionate about delivering care to our residents supporting them where necessary with the aim of enabling them to remain  independent as long as possible and maintain a healthy lifestyle.  We use our shared resources efficiently within the ‘place’ of St Helens to best meet the needs of local people - taking an integrated, coordinated and people centred approach.

“St Helens Cares goes beyond simply health and care evolving over the past few years and has seen all partners adapt to a place-based approach to tackle the challenges and inequalities brought by the pandemic.”