Stockport lives to be improved thanks to collective of local organisations – agents of change

More effective communication, joint planning and working, and the ability to share knowledge and assets are all high on the agenda for 12 Stockport organisations, who have collectively vowed to work together to improve the lives of the town’s residents.

During an event held in February 2018 at social housing provider Equity Housing Group’s headquarters in Cheadle Hulme, the attendees of ‘Our Stockport’ – which included Stockport MBC, Stockport CCG, Foundation Trust NHS, Life Leisure, Borough Care, Stockport Homes, Equity Housing Group, Johnnie Johnson Housing, Sector 3 and Synergy, Viaduct Health and Stockport Prevention Alliance – set in motion a set of commitments which will ensure the people of Stockport are better attended to in emergencies, need care and support in the community, when seeking employment, and during challenges including drug and alcohol addiction.

The meeting was set up and fronted by Grenville Page, non-executive director at both Equity Housing Group and Borough Care in Stockport, with support from the local authority, CCG and Foundation Trust. The aim of the senior leaders from across Stockport was to get together to discuss opportunities for greater collaboration and partnership working across sectors to improve health, well-being and social outcomes and ensure those in the most influential positions within the borders of the town are able to work effectively to bring about positive and significant change for citizens.

Each attending organisation was invited to share their key challenges and views for how to deliver better care and support through partnership working.

The participating organisations have now been tasked with placing more focus on three key areas:

• Sharing knowledge and assets: put systems in place to ensure appropriate sharing of information on the town’s residents, meaning issues are resolved more quickly
• More effective communication: ensure all Stockport organisations can communicate more effectively, for the benefit of those who are seeking support
• Improved prioritising: as all participating organisations have shared workplace challenges, formulate a way of prioritising the areas of highest importance to residents

Speaking at the event, Grenville stated:

“We are all acutely aware of the financial, socio-economic, demographic, health, housing and workforce challenges we face, not only across Stockport and Greater Manchester, but also nationally”.

“A week doesn’t go by without some news that our systems are under incredible stress, there isn’t enough investment, or that there has been a failure in care or support somewhere. Despite plans and commentary, there is still a pattern of key organisations working in silos, and as such, we are a long way from true partnership working. Only by doing so, can we realise the full potential of the role our community-based organisations can play for the greater good of Stockport residents.

“Everyone who attended the ‘Our Stockport’ event plays a pivotal role in the health, well-being, lives and futures of Stockport people, and by putting definite actions in place, we will be able to see our individual efforts merge to create an easier to understand, and easier to implement system across the town, which means residents get more tailored support, more quickly. This is definitely just the start of new conversations, new relationships, and new ways of working.”

Collette King, group chief executive of Equity Housing Group, which also forms part of the initial ‘Our Stockport’ group, said:

“To host so many influential organsiations here at our Equity Housing Group headquarters was a pleasure, but even more special was the opportunity to hear how these organisations are dedicating more of their time to further improving the lives of Stockport residents.

“It was particularly humbling to see that amongst all the individual objectives of these organisations, the thing we all share in common is care and respect for the people that depend on us. The action points that emerged from the event proved that working together will provide a previously unseen strength in numbers. Stockport’s residents should expect to see great change off the back of the ‘Our Stockport’ event and future meetings; we all mean business.”

The next ‘Our Stockport’ meeting will be held later in 2018 and Grenville looks forward to reporting on progress via the Housing LIN. He goes on to say “In the meantime, despite our specific responsibilities in our roles, we all need to be thinking and working across the system, acting as agents of change, breaking down silos and barriers, and be doing the right thing for our communities and individuals”. Indeed, new conversations and closer working are already happening.

Follow Greville on Twitter - @grenvillepage