NHS Midlands and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) hosted the Midlands Health Inequalities Conference 2023 at The Studio in Birmingham on Wednesday 29 November.
Representatives from across all 11 Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) across the Midlands attended - including NHS, Local Authority and Voluntary Sector Partners- along with patient representatives with lived experience.
Members from the three lead organisations of the Black Country Anchor Institutions Network (BCAIN) also attended the conference, representing the NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB), the local Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) and the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES).
BCAIN had a presence at the marketplace to raise awareness of its work, including the local anchor networks in the Black Country (Walsall, Wolverhampton, Sandwell and Dudley) and the success of the emerging employment and employability related initiatives in all four places.
The EIU also showcased the local economy dashboard for the Black Country given BCAIN’s work programmes – Employment, Local Procurement and Social Value, Environment and Sustainability- are all driven by local data and insight first.
The marketplace event was a success with lots of wider interest from other Midlands ICS’s in the work of BCAIN and a chance to emphasise the importance of the NHS anchoring programme of work to address the wider determinants of health.
Reflecting on the conference Taps Mtemachani, Director of Transformation and Partnerships for the NHS Black Country ICB, said: “I am really proud of the work we are doing with all of our partners to address the fourth core principle of ICSs - supporting broader socio-economic development.
“We want economic improvement across the sub-region and our partners, like the EIU, ably led by Professor Delma Dwight, are invaluable to ensuring that the Black Country prosperity opportunities are well understood and leveraged by anchor organisations across all of the sectors.
“For us in healthcare, this is about recognising our collective impact and doing more to create opportunities for economic development, be that through creating accessible and gainful employment opportunities or leveraging Black Country business capability to support the delivery of health services, locking in that social value.
“There is a lot we can do together and I am incredibly proud of the work that the Transformation and Partnership Team are doing, working alongside our partners, and this is what we have been able to share at the first ever regional inequalities conference.”
For more information on BCAIN, visit the Black Country ICS website here.
