Have your say on how health services are delivered across West Yorkshire

With the passing of the Health and Care Act 2022, there is a requirement for integrated care systems (like the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership) to develop a five-year integrated health and social care strategy and for integrated care boards to develop a joint forward plan to deliver the NHS components.

Building on the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership (WY HCP) Five-Year Strategy ‘Better health and wellbeing for everyone’ published in 2020, the Partnership has coproduced a refreshed draft Integrated Care Strategy.

The partnership is now seeking your views on how its ambitions for the NHS will be achieved in a new Joint Forward Plan for the area. You can have your say by completing a short survey online at  or by contacting Healthwatch by Monday 20 February 2023 to answer a few questions. More information is available on the WY HCP website.

Feedback has helped to drive plan

The plan is expected to be published in spring 2023.

The draft Integrated Care Strategy has been developed from what people, communities and staff have told us about health and social care services in Bradford District and Craven, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield District. Coproduced in partnership with colleagues from across all health and care sectors, it has been developed from Healthwatch engagement, local involvement activities, views from meetings held in public via the local health and wellbeing boards, the NHS WY ICB and WY HCP Board.

Cathy Elliott, Chair of the NHS WY ICB said: ‘‘Refreshing our Partnership’s Five-Year Strategy gives us the opportunity to build a plan that really achieves the NHS services our communities want. Working with local people is important to us to ensure their voices are heard and that we are addressing their current concerns. We’re urging everyone to come forward and think about what it means for them, their family, loved ones and friends and importantly, to have their say.”

Rob Webster CBE, CEO of NHS WY ICB and CEO Lead for WY HCP said: ‘Our 10 big ambitions, which are part of the Five-Year Strategy, published in 2020, set out how we want to increase the years of life that people live in good health in West Yorkshire, with a focus on areas such as increasing our early diagnosis rates for cancer and preventing suicide. We also want to achieve a 10% reduction in the gap in life expectancy between people with mental health conditions, learning disabilities and/or autism and other groups of people. We are now in a different context that will alter our approach, for example living with COVID, widening health inequalities and a cost-of-living crisis. People’s views on how we deliver their services have never been more important.

Cllr Tim Swift , Leader of Calderdale Council and Chair of WY HCP Partnership Board said: ‘Collectively it’s all our responsibility to oversee the development of this refreshed strategy and to make sure it reflects the needs of the 2.4 million people living across our area when delivering care. Our plans will continue to be built from our local health and wellbeing board strategies to reflect what is important for local people and communities. This is at the very centre of all we do’.

Sharanjit Boughan, Associate Director, West Yorkshire Healthwatch said: