As we approach the conclusion of the Sussex MSK Partnership Central (SMSKPC) service, we’re taking a moment to celebrate the extraordinary journey we’ve shared.

Over the past decade, this partnership has been more than a service – it’s been a community, a purpose, and a shared commitment to making a real difference in people’s lives.

To mark this special occasion, we’ve created a series of videos that highlight the many achievements of SMSKPC and the incredible people who’ve made it all possible. Each focuses on a key aspect of our journey, showcasing the impact and the values that have defined our partnership.

Celebrating 10 years together 

Our first video takes us back to May 2024, when we celebrated ten years of SMSKPC at our annual conference. This event marked a special moment for us – a chance to look back on all that’s been achieved, and to recognise the people who’ve made it possible. 

Over the past decade, it’s been our team’s commitment and shared purpose that have shaped our success, and May’s celebration was a reminder of just how much we’ve accomplished together.

Making an Impact Person to Person 

This video shines a light on the tangible difference our service has made to people and our communities – it’s the personal connections that have been at the heart of everything we do.

Showcasing the positive feedback and gratitude of those who’ve benefited from our service, these stories of care and support truly bring our partnership’s impact to life.

Living Our Values 

It’s the culture that has defined our service – a culture built on strong relationships, shared values, and a deep commitment to patient care. The camaraderie, teamwork, and dedication of our team highlight the connections that have shaped our partnership and made it more than just a service, but a community. 

From the kindness shown in small gestures and moments of support to the collaborative efforts that have made a big difference – and the friendships formed along the way – this video is a chance to honour everyone who has contributed to delivering SMSKPC.

Each individual’s hard work, passion, and care have made this service possible.

A celebration of togetherness 

As SMSKPC comes to a close, this series is our way of looking back with pride and gratitude. We’ve come so far over the last 10 years, and it’s all thanks to the incredible individuals hard work, passion, and care have made our service possible. Together, we’ve built something truly special.

We hope our work inspires others to see the power of community, the importance of shared purpose, and the enduring impact of truly personalised care.

Thank you to everyone involved in being part of this incredible story. 

Stay tuned as we celebrate this final chapter of the Sussex MSK Partnership Central journey and say hello to MSK Health.

Our work at Here focusses on bringing together service improvement, lived experience and data.

Last June we joined the Sussex Health Equity Fellowship, a brand new programme created by Sussex Health and Care and partnered with Kent Surrey Sussex Academic Health Science Network.

We were extremely keen to be involved and were thrilled that of the eight places offered two of our team were accepted onto the programme.

Fern Bolwell, Learning Lead and Tom Golden, Business Intelligence Analyst at Here both took part in the programme. We felt that having people from both an operational and data and a analytics perspective would of huge benefit due to how equity learning could be used by these different skills areas.

In this blog, Fern shares her more about the Fellowship and reflects on what both she personally and us as an organisation have learned from the experience.

What is the Health Equity Fellowship? 

The Health Equity Fellowship is a nine-month programme delivered by NHS Sussex and Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex. The programme aims to equip participants with the skills and knowledge to become key change agents within their organisations, promoting a focus on equity and reducing health inequalities. 

The Fellowship is delivered through a mixture of lectures, webinars, action learning sets, mentoring and connection to each other’s knowledge and experience. Alongside this, Fellows complete a work-based project with a goal of improving health equity.

‘We know that our society is not fair and equitable, and many people face

 

 

 

systematised and institutional discrimination and cannot thrive in the conditions in which they live. We recognise the structural and cultural inequalities that are embedded in our wider society, and that this impacts our work in health and care. We recognise the inequities in the healthcare system and we want to work to address those.’ 

I have always been passionate about justice and fairness in society and ensuring everyone’s voices are heard and acted on. My professional goal is to realise this mission through the work that I am doing with Sussex MSK Partnership and ensure that health equity is always considered in each decision for the patients who need it most.  

For me the opportunity to be a part of the Fellowship came at a key moment of change for the Sussex MSK Partnership as we looked to the future and worked on how to deliver healthcare differently.

What skills did we bring?

Sussex MSK Partnership had already set aside dedicated project groups to focus on health equity. This work has been divided into 3 workstreams – Data, Staff Support and Community.

I work across each project group and was able to see where each intersected and supported the other. We first focused on an evidence-based approach through both community outreach and data gathering to ensure the changes we make, make a difference where it is most needed.

The way we work at Here meant we were able to be agile and encouraged to be innovative and forward thinking in approaches to delivering healthcare. 

What have been the results? 

The Health Equity Fellowship gave me the opportunity to grow my capability in population health, innovation and evaluation. My understanding increased in applying an equity lens to change initiatives. As well as expanding my network and connecting me to experts in a wide range of relevant areas.

Following the fellowship, I presented at Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust and Sussex Medical School’s Anti Racism event to showcase our work at Sussex MSK Partnership. 

I felt truly inspired by the dedication of the team leading the Fellowship and emboldened by their hope, even when honestly discussing the real challenge and shocking impact of inequity and prejudice.  

During the 9 months of the Fellowship I was able to work on: 

• Community Appointment Days (a patient journey offered in the community alongside VSOs).  

• Improving our data capture and reporting to be able to see, at a glance, differences between access, experience and journey of different groups of patients.

• Used our data to inform where we should be supporting our community, through this evidence, we connected with Crawley Asian networks. 

• Shared the learning from the fellowship and delivered training for all Here colleagues on health equity. 

• Simplified the interpreter booking process to address inequity.

• Created a new process to ensure patients with adjustments were flagged on our systems so that we can proactively support their needs.

What is our learning and what are we taking forward from this? 

The Fellowship experience has extended my confidence, competency and language to challenge and advocate for health equity in projects, process, the workplace and the wider world. 

I actively seek out to surface where there are challenges for patients and colleagues based on protected characteristics.  focused on fixing, improving and most importantly sharing the learning and awareness for future prevention of inequity.

I am grateful to those who speak up and teach me. It has shifted my vision to a world where I am no longer blind to inequity. 

Earlier this month Sussex Health and Care Fellowship held a webinar to share more information about the programme, Fern was invited to talk and share her experience – you can watch it in full below.

How can you get involved?  

The Sussex Health Equity Fellowship is now recruiting for a new cohort of Fellows – details on how to apply are below. 

1. Health Innovation KSS website: https://healthinnovation-kss.com/news/sussex-health-equity-fellowship-opens-for-applications/ 
2. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7224325761082552320
3. Twitter: https://x.com/HealthInnov_KSS/status/1818563477654417445
   
4. Applications close on 2nd September 2024, 11:59pm