OneWolverhampton shortlisted for national award

Date of release: 26 February 2024

A community partnership has been shortlisted for a national award for delivering a winter plan that reduced hospital admissions and ensured people were able to return home at the safest, earliest opportunity.

OneWolverhampton has been shortlisted in the health and social care category at this year’s Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Awards.

The place-based partnership is a collaboration of health, social care, voluntary and community organisations, including The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.

The winter plan saw partners from health and social care take a joint approach to funding, using it in innovative ways to test out new ways of working, such as having dedicated welfare rights and social workers within mental health settings and running bespoke training events with care homes.

The King’s Fund highlighted Wolverhampton as an exemplar for sharing resources to drive improved outcomes and innovation.

Sian Thomas, Partnership Director for OneWolverhampton, said: “We are really pleased to have been shortlisted for this award.

“As a partnership we have been going from strength to strength and this award is testament to the hard work that has been done to ensure health and care services offered the best possible support for the people of Wolverhampton during the tough winter months.

“This has meant that, as well as reducing hospital admissions, we have been able to help people to return to the place they call home at the safest and earliest opportunity.”

The annual LGC Awards recognise outstanding achievements in local government. The health and social category recognises how groups have worked to improve or maintain services through facilitating integration and improving collaboration between the public, private and voluntary sectors.

LGC editor Sarah Calkin said: “We have been blown away by the response to this year’s LGC Awards, with more than 900 entries, a 24 per cent increase on last year. This shows that despite the challenging circumstances facing councils up and down the country, there is plenty of excellent work taking pace by dedicated staff who are committed to their communities."

To find out more about the LGC Awards 2024, please visit LGC Awards 2024