Walsall Together has been crowned the winner of the Place-Based Partnership and Integrated Care Award at the HSJ Awards 2023 for its work to improve outcomes for the town’s communities.
The Health Service Journal (HSJ) award ceremony, which took place last night, (Thursday 16 November), recognised the partnership for the significant integrated work that has been done around hospital avoidance, discharge pathways (NHSE national pilot site), enhanced care homes support, workforce recruitment and retention and community resilience.
The entry was described by the panel of judges as “An excellent example of partnership and effective leadership and structure with the implementation of some unique projects. This is a shining example of what other systems should be aiming for.”
Michelle McManus, Director of Transformation and Place Development for Walsall Together, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be the winners.
“The partnership has gone from strength to strength since it was formally established in 2019 and this is down to the sheer passion and drive of all our partners and our wider colleagues in the voluntary and community sector. The strong relationships and can-do attitude have meant we have been able to work together to make a real difference to the citizens of Walsall – putting their voices at the heart of what we do and helping them to stay well and out of hospital, reduce inequalities and improve access to services for our most disadvantaged communities.
“Winning this prestigious award means so much to us especially when we were up against so many fantastic nominees. It’s a real honour and testament to all the hard work of everyone within the partnership.”
Alastair McLellan, HSJ editor, said: “What better year than the 75th anniversary of our wonderful and world-leading NHS to be able to applaud all those who were recognised as worthy winners at the 2023 HSJ Awards.
“I’d like to extend my personal congratulations to Walsall Together who scooped ‘top spot’ in the category of Place Based Partnership and Integrated Care Award. It was so encouraging to – once again – see an unprecedented level of entries! The calibre of projects was outstanding, and I really do hope that entrants – whether they took home a trophy or not – enjoyed the experience and benefitted from the informed feedback they received from our skilled and highly experienced judging panel.
“So, huge congratulations again Walsall Together and welcome to our family of HSJ Awards winners”.
The partnership, which is made up of Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, Walsall Council, Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board, Primary Care Networks (General Practice), Housing (whg), Walsall Community Network, One Walsall and Healthwatch Walsall, was one of a ‘record-breaking’ 1456 entries and 223 projects and individuals reaching the final shortlist, making it the biggest awards programme in the awards’ 43-year history.
Winners in a total of 25 categories were announced during a ceremony at Evolution London, hosted by Matt Lucas.
For more information on Walsall Together visit www.walsalltogether.co.uk