Celebrating our NHS here in Sutton  

On Wednesday the NHS marked its 75th birthday. As a public organisation, we all value it dearly but we know it is the people that work for the NHS that continue to make it such a national treasure. 

I’m the local government Health lead for our six south west London boroughs and it is a great privilege to regularly get to see the wonderful and often ground-breaking work that takes place across Sutton to improve the health and well-being of our residents. 

Last week, I spent two days with Sutton Health and Care, a partnership between the Council  and the NHS, which provides community health and sexual health services. During my visit I learnt more about the incredible work taking place to support children and adults in our local area, including speech and language therapy, physiotherapy, musculoskeletal services, as well as the work taking place to support the safe discharge of patients from hospital and urgent response teams to name a few.

When visiting Sutton Health and Care, I was delighted to hear the news that the Learning Disabilities Health Facilitation Team has been shortlisted for a number of industry awards (three to be exact) recognising the work being done to improve the uptake of annual health checks for people with learning disabilities across Sutton.  

I am also extremely proud of the strong partnerships we have with the NHS here in Sutton,  this includes the close working relationships with our colleagues in social care. These partnerships are based on the understanding that health is not just about people in hospital but it’s about what happens in people’s lives and homes. 

A most recent example of this collaboration in action was through the implementation of new software that has improved the discharge of patients from hospitals. I’m delighted to say that the platform is now being used locally by 223 members of staff across 97 agencies and to date, it has facilitated the safe discharge of over 8,160 Sutton residents, freeing up much needed beds in our local hospitals. Colleagues have been so impressed with the system that it was recently shortlisted for two local government awards for digital innovation.  

The creation of Family Hubs across the borough is also a great example of partnership working that is improving the health and care of our residents. Family Hubs provide earlier and more joined up support for children, young people and families uniting services like health visitors, maternity and other programmes all under one roof. Since the launch of the Family Hub in Sutton we have seen a noticeable increase in attendance at midwifery appointments, following the introduction of a midwifery clinic in the hub. 
 
Sticking with the theme of innovation, we must not forget about the ground-breaking work taking place at the London Cancer Hub in Belmont. It’s an honour to be working alongside The Institute of Cancer Research, The Royal Marsden and Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust to establish and further develop a facility for cancer drug discovery. The Innovation Gateway is already home to organisations that are making a real difference to the treatment of cancer patients and the site is set for further development over the coming years. You can learn more about the exciting work taking place on the London Cancer Hub site in an article published in MyLondon who recently toured the facilities.  

In writing this article, I was amazed to learn that the history of our borough’s relationship with the NHS goes right back to the very beginning of when the national health service was established. According to our colleagues at the Sutton Archive, in 1942, a lady called Jesse  Mair married William Beveridge. This was the same year that the Beveridge Report was produced and it is believed that the ideas in this government white paper paved the way for the creation of the NHS and “cradle to grave” welfare system which is still so valued today. Jesse is thought to have helped crystallise those ideas and also to have inspired the use of dramatic language which ensured that the report was very widely read. 

I hope in reading this article you are as proud as I am of our colleagues and the relationship we have with the NHS here in Sutton. I want to personally take this opportunity to thank our colleagues in the NHS and social care, it is their dedication and hard work that has and will continue to make the national health service a ground-breaking and valued national service for many years to come. 

Councillor Ruth Dombey
Leader of the Council