NHSE London region are delighted that the NHSE London Legacy and Health Equity Partnership (LHEP) has been shortlisted for the Innovation and Improvement in Reducing Healthcare Inequalities Award at the HSJ Awards, recognising an outstanding contribution to health equity.
NHSE London Regional Director for Commissioning, Will Huxter, said: “The enduring legacy of the LHEP programme has been the adoption of its principles and approach by health and care commissioners across London. From a specific short-term challenge four years ago, LHEP has fundamentally changed the way public services work together and how they work with Londoners.”
The NHSE London Legacy and Health Equity Partnership (LHEP), was a two-year programme grounded in evidence and data, which aimed to establish foundations for new ways of working to reduce inequalities in vaccinations, screening and health access.
The team was led by Dr Leonora Weil, LHEP Director and UK Health Security Agency Public Health Consultant and Joanne Wilson, LHEP Programme Lead and Team Leader for Child Health Services and Immunisations London Region.
The LHEP programme has proven success for innovative, evidence-based, sustainable approaches for health equity in London, delivered through 12 interlinked programmes with overarching system leadership as a collaboration between communities and health partners. LHEP’s legacy has been established through publications, a health equity approach and toolkit and embedding new ways of working in London.
Dr Leonora Weil said: “The strength and commitment of partnership working was integral to the LHEP approach. The programme was modified iteratively through constant community collaboration, striving to ensure that no community was left behind. Success is shared with our partners including communities across London, NHSE London, UKHSA London, Public Health Teams; Association of Directors of Public Health London, our academic partners, ICSs, OHID; London Councils and the GLA.”
Asked why they entered for the awards, Joanne Wilson said: “We wanted to share our partnership approach addressing health disparities by leveraging data and evidence-based insights to identify and target underserved communities, ensuring that our interventions were effective and equitable in the local context.”
LHEP and NHSE London Senior Communications and Engagement Manager, Jo Inskip, added: “We are passionate about building trust with our communities and reducing health inequalities. LHEP developed a ground-up approach leading to our programmes and engagement being co-designed and co-produced with communities, ensuring that their voices and their needs drove our efforts.”
“LHEP enabled us to reach out to Muslims across London by having health stands at key Muslim community events. These engagements and conversations, will go a long way in restoring trust and credibility in health services.” Said the co-chair of the London Muslim Health Network.
The co-chair of London Jewish Health Partnership added that: “The incredible reach of LHEP enabled us to build new networks and partnerships and tackle health inequalities. Most importantly, LHEP has shown a welcome high level of cultural sensitivity.”
Professor Kevin Fenton, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities Regional Director and part of the LHEP oversight group, said: “LHEP leaves us with invaluable lessons and legacies, including enhancing community engagement, celebrating cultural competence, and the relentless and invaluable integration of science into programmes, tailored to meeting our communities’ needs.”
The LHEP programme reached thousands of underserved communities across London. This included funding 20 grassroots community engagement programmes and 50 community health programmes across eight London boroughs. We discussed health priorities and barriers with 4,648 Black Londoners, five faith and community health networks. We held nine community conferences and events bringing faith and community groups together with health colleagues, and ran health literacy lessons for more than 1,000 16-19 year olds.
HSJ editor Alastair McLellan, added: “It always gives me great pleasure to congratulate our finalists at this stage of the judging process and this year is no exception as we acknowledge The London NHS Legacy and Health Equity Partnership (LHEP) for being shortlisted in the category of Innovation and Improvement in Reducing Healthcare Inequalities Award. It’s important to remember that the HSJ Awards are not just a celebration of success stories but also a platform to shape the future of the NHS.”
The selected winners will be announced during the awards ceremony at Evolution London on 21 November 2024.
LHEP and NHSE London Senior Communications and Engagement Manager, Lamide Kamau, said: “Whatever the result on the night, I’m so pleased we had the opportunity to share all the work we’ve done with communities and how taking a communities first approach is so impactful and goes a long way to building trust. Working in the health sector, we owe to those we serve to continually work at getting it right.”
