Rochdale has been praised as being ‘ahead of the game’ in its work to integrate health and social care in the Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale area.
Sir Richard Leese, Chair of the NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care, visited Rochdale colleagues at Rochdale Infirmary, recently.
He was welcomed by Rochdale Care Organisation Chief Officer, Steve Taylor; Medical Director, Dr Shona McCallum; and Sandra Croasdale, Interim Director of Integration and Transformation for NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care (Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale).
He was taken on a short tour to see the facilities and speak to staff at the Same Day Emergency Care Unit and the hospital operating theatres, where patients from across Greater Manchester are now receiving their surgery, before attending a short presentation from leaders within Rochdale’s integrated system.
Colleagues shared their experiences and learning from a recent trip to the ICIC23 International Conference on Integrated Care.
Steve said: “It was great to welcome Sir Richard and for him to give us the opportunity to showcase some of the fantastic work we are doing in Heywood, Middleton, and Rochdale to join up health and social care.”
Following the presentation, Sir Richard praised the joined-up system approach in Rochdale, saying they were a ‘leader in Greater Manchester around integration,’ and ‘ahead of the game.’
He also said that going forward it would be important for Rochdale to share its expertise in integrated care with other places in Greater Manchester.
Sir Richard added that all localities in Greater Manchester should share their expertise with others, particularly around successful ways of working, vision, culture, and values.
He also stressed the importance of standardisation to help others move forward quickly, saying the work Rochdale has done in integrated care could be used and adapted to help other health systems progress.
Later that afternoon, Sir Richard then went on to visit the Oldham Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC), where he was met by Oldham Care Organisation, Chief Officer, Dr Alistair Craig, and Mike Barker, Oldham Place Lead, Kay Miller, Community Divisional Director of Nursing, and Rebecca Duggan, Assistant Director of Nursing.
Sir Richard was given a full tour of the CDC, where average times for diagnosis of cancer patients have been lowered by 20 days for lung cancer.