NHS Yorkshire and the Humber is made up of a number of departments. Please see below for a brief description about the role of each department.
Information about the work of the SHA and the various projects and initiatives we are involved in can be found under What we do.
Communications and Public Relations
The Communications and Public Relations directorate supports SHA objectives by maintaining corporate communication functions and providing communication support to improve patient care, service quality and the health of the population. They set the strategic direction for communications across the region, develop communications leadership, hold the communications system to account, and prepare communications for the future.
Finance and Investment
The Finance and Investment directorate works to maintain the financial health of NHS organisations across Yorkshire and the Humber as well as managing the SHA’s substantial expenditure programme and responsibilities. Alongside this, they play a pivotal role in ensuring NHS resources are well managed and achieve value for money.
Medical Directorate
The Medical Director is responsible for providing the overall leadership of the medical workforce in Yorkshire and the Humber, developing clinical networks and ensuring clinical engagement.
Yorkshire and the Humber Programme for IT
Patient care is being improved by the introduction of innovative technology in Yorkshire and the Humber. Yorkshire and the Humber Programme for IT (Y&HPfIT) is being delivered by NHS Yorkshire and the Humber in conjunction with NHS Connecting for Health. The programme is an essential element in supporting the delivery of the NHS Plan and will improve patient care by increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of clinicians and other NHS staff. Real benefits are being delivered by integrating IT systems, giving patients treatment where they want it and when they need it. These developments span a wide range of care settings, from GP surgeries and community care through to large and complex acute hospitals, and all reflect improvements achieved as a direct result of Y&HPfIT. As they continue, the benefits will only accelerate, contributing to an efficient and safe health service. In Yorkshire and the Humber, the Y&HPfIT team is working closely with NHS and social care organisations to ensure they are aware of the programme and are involved in its development and implementation.
Patient Care and Partnerships
The Patient Care and Partnerships directorate leads on work to achieve sustainable improvements in services, patient experience and outcomes of care and facilitates six of the Healthy Ambitions pathways. This is supported by an emphasis on clinical engagement, public and patient involvement, improving quality and governance and the implementation of policy and they work with PCTs to support their development across these agendas. They bring the NHS, local government and partner agencies together to positively impact upon service improvement and delivery across the region and also provide professional leadership to the nursing, midwifery, allied health professions and pharmacists in the local NHS.
Performance and Delivery
The Performance and Delivery directorate is responsible for ensuring the delivery of key NHS targets across NHS organisations in Yorkshire and the Humber. They ensure the NHS is prepared for, and has the ability to respond to major incidents, including an influenza pandemic. They help our provider organisations who have yet to achieve foundation trust status to do so. They work with PCTs to improve access to services, and the quality of services through Practice Based Commissioning. They work with the Department of Health and other partners to increase the choice of health services available to our patients and improve quality through implementing standard contracts. They also ensure that the SHA’s corporate business operates smoothly and efficiently.
Public Health
The Public Health directorate supports PCTs, NHS trusts and other local organisations in their activities to improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. It is a joint function, and the team is split between the SHA and the Department of Health regionally.
Strategy and System Reform
The Strategy and System Reform directorate drives reform, shapes new strategies and brings about innovation and improvement across the region. Key areas of work include the SHA’s system management role, taking forward Healthy Ambitions (the outcome of the Next Stage Review in Yorkshire and the Humber), developing world class PCTs and taking a lead role in promoting innovation across the region in line with our new statutory responsibility.
Workforce and Education
The main objective of the Workforce and Education directorate is to develop the existing and future workforce, through effective workforce planning, education and commissioning strategies. With 70% of NHS funding in the region dedicated to staffing, the quality of patient care depends on the skills, competencies, behaviours and attitudes of our staff. The funding allocated for training and education is spent on pre-registration, post-registration and support staff. It is bought from universities, medical and dental schools, further education colleges and NHS organisations across the region. They also help organisations to develop their leadership capacity – as well as working to develop the leadership capacity of the SHA.
