West Kent Health and Care Partnership (HCP) brings together health and care providers of health and care including: hospitals, community and mental health care providers, GPs, community and voluntary groups and social care – to plan and deliver services for the people of west Kent and to support them to live healthy lives.
The West Kent HCP covers a population of about 504,000 people. It has some of the most and least socially deprived areas (top and bottom 10 per cent) in England.
It is developing new ways of working and new models of care that involve a range of partners working together to support people living in west Kent. The partnership is also responsible for addressing health and care challenges (services that are not working very well at the moment) and inequalities (where some groups are not getting the same service or health outcomes as most people) in the area.
Over time it is expected that the West Kent HCP will become responsible for many of the duties currently delivered by the NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board - previously the Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The partnership has an agreement with Kent and Medway ICB to deliver some of their previous integrated commissioning functions for urgent and planned care.
- Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust (MTW)
- Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT)
- West Kent Health
- West Kent primary care networks
- Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust (KMPT)
- Kent County Council (KCC)
- West Kent district councils: Maidstone, Sevenoaks,Tonbridge and Malling and Tunbridge Wells
- Voluntary and community sector partners - Healthwatch Kent, Involve Kent and the Patient Participation Groups (PPGs) Chairs Group
- North East London Foundation Trust (NELFT)
- NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board
West Kent Health and Care Partnership's vision statement on its key purpose is:
The West Kent Health and Care Partnership is working together, to improve the health and well-being of the residents of West Kent. We are working together with residents to:
- make health and care services more accessible and joined up
- improve health and well-being of residents and reducing inequalities
- ensure we get best value from the resources invested in West Kent health and care
- support broader social and economic development.
The West Kent Health and Care Partnership transformation priorities and enabler workstreams, include:
- children’s and adult's mental health
- frailty and complex needs
- Maidstone inequalities
- Integrated Neighbourhood Teams
- discharge and flow.
Key enablers to support delivery of the priorities above are:
- workforce
- population health and prevention
- estates
- digital and data
- finance and contracting
- engagement and communications.
The West Kent HCP has a Stakeholder Engagement Advisory Group (SEAG) that advises the Health and Care Partnership Board.
The SEAG's membership includes key organisations concerned with local health and care, who come together to discuss the development of the HCP and to share activities.
Members include Healthwatch Kent, representatives from the community and voluntary sector as well as local authorities and the NHS.
The group has conducted stakeholder mapping and created a shared repository for engagement and local experience.
SEAG is actively seeking to identify opportunities for collaborative engagement with the public to promote better local health and wellbeing.
