Andrea Young on the next phase of Bristol Health Partners

Bristol Health Partners Chair Andrea Young gives an update on changes to the leadership of the partnership.

It’s been an interesting and often challenging time for Bristol Health Partners over the last six months or so.

To start with the good news, the partners that make a financial contribution – North Bristol Trust, University Hospitals Bristol, Bristol City Council, University of Bristol and the University of the West of England – have agreed to sign the new partnership agreement, which secures the partnership’s future for the next 18 months and potentially until 2021.

But the Board have also had some tough decisions to make in terms of the partnership’s structure. With fewer partners able to make a financial contribution in the future, we have been forced to make the Bristol Health Partners Director post redundant, to protect the financial contribution to the Health Integration Teams (HITs) and the core team that support HITs’ work. This decision was reached after long consideration of all the options and months of consultation. It is with a heavy heart that we will be saying farewell to David Relph on 24 April.

David has been Bristol Health Partners Director since 2014. In that time he has transformed the partnership, broadening its reach and scope, developing it into a key collaborative force in Bristol and further afield. He has led the partnership with vision and imagination, has embodied its ethos and been an inspiring figurehead.

The five years of achievement document the partnership published last year is testament to the amazing work that’s happened under his leadership. He will be greatly missed by the Board, core team and wider community. We hope that he will continue to make a positive impact to Bristol’s knottiest system problems in his next adventure.

Removing the Director’s post will, of course, leave a significant gap. While we are unable to replace all the post’s functions, some key activities will be transferred to other members of the team. Lisa King will take on the line management and leadership of the core team, alongside HIT leadership, budgetary and governance responsibilities. Her role has been changed to Chief Operating Officer to reflect this wider remit.

David Wynick’s role of chair of the Executive Group will be extended to include leadership of HITs and continued development of the HIT model. He will also continue his work to scope out and develop a Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC) bid, linking even more strongly with his role in Bristol Health Partners.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank David Relph for his commitment and vision for the partnership over the last four years. The fact that the Board are continuing their support of the partnership is a fantastic legacy of which he should be very proud.