April seemed to go by in a flash and we both felt we had been here, there and everywhere working with our ICS partners. It was certainly a busy old month!
Across the month of April Jim and Gill went to several PPG and practice meetings all across the county: Bridges Surgery in Weymouth, the Apples Surgery and the Grove Surgery both in Sherborne, Shore Medical in Poole, Gillingham Surgery and the Blackmore Vale Partnership both in North Dorset, and Penny’s Hill and Barcellos Practices both in Ferndown. We are very grateful for our excellent relationships with practices and PPGs and the value of public engagement and feedback is appreciated so very much. We always strive to ensure the “person” is the focus of everything we do.
We were pleased to meet online with Gemma Alldred who explained her role within the Arts Development Company, working to support creative health opportunities across the county. There is a monthly online forum for people to connect and share into and stay updated, as well as a Facebook group. Their next meeting is in July when social prescribers will be sharing more about their roles.
At the start of the year Jim went to a BCP Youth Forum meeting with colleagues to run a session on the NHS’ 10-year plan review, submitting their feedback to the national team. He attended a follow-up meeting in April to help share the findings of the review, which received positive comments from the group. We’ve agreed to keep in touch with the Forum to get their input into future projects.
Jim and Gill had a catch up with Dorset County Hospital’s patient experience and public engagement team. This is an incredibly useful meeting where we exchange experiences and feedback, and learn about patient issues. This time we heard about the new HIVE (Health and Wellbeing, Information, Volunteering, Engagement) patient experience and community involvement hub in the hospital which opened on 9 May 2025. More on this next time!
Jim went to an event hosted by the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCSE) in Bournemouth called ‘Transforming Health and Care Together’. There were excellent presentations from people from the NHS, voluntary sector and local authority, several information stalls and a panel discussion. Jim made contact with colleagues at BCP council and will be building on the relationship in the future.
Gill and Jim joined the meeting of the NHS Dorset Primary Care Communication Network & Digital Care Coordinators, where we talked about the launch of the new Women’s Health site, and the menopause campaign page now on the Orcha App Library for menopause and perimenopause. Please do take a look when you can!
Jim and Mollie from Help and Care met with Prince of Wales PPG to help them plan a dementia and carers event at the practice in June. The event will be a ‘marketplace’ style with several local organisations attending to give information, help and advice to any patients who need it.
Jim and Gill attended a webinar hosted by the Dorset Intelligence & Insight Service (DiiS) where we learned about the use of local intelligence to identify and tackle health inequalities in Dorset.
We heard how teams are using DiiS data to bring insights to life, explore key transformation topics and how DiiS can support them. Health inequalities persist nationally, with deprived areas often facing greater rates of illness, shorter life expectancy and challenges in access to services, so it’s vital that data is analysed and used to support population health management strategies.
Outside of work Jim and Kelly woke up early to listen to the dawn chorus and see the sun rise over Weymouth bay, Jim also saw a remastered film about Pink Floyd at Pompeii at the cinema.
Gill saw the musical Chicago in Bournemouth, starring Janette Manrara from Strictly Come Dancing. Both she and her friend Sharon agreed it was a fantastic show to see and highly recommended!
Gill also went to Fuerteventura with her husband René to celebrate their friend’s 60th birthday (gangsters and molls fancy dress!)
As mentioned last time, following the government’s announcements, the ICB is likely to be making some functional changes across the coming months. As staff, we are being extremely well supported and informed by our executive management teams, and we will of course keep our networks updated as things develop. In the meantime, we are incredibly grateful for the lovely messages of support we have received, thank you all.
Onwards and upwards we go into May! As aways, another big thank you for helping us to share the health and wellbeing information we send, and please do let us know of any health events you are planning.
