SWGS Events

Care leaders, innovators and changemakers from across the South West met at Dartington Hall last week to discuss and learn from inspiring speakers and share in a group discussion regarding the future of health and social care in the region and how we can shape it together today.

The event sponsored by Triodos Bank  and hosted by South West Growth Service (SWGS) discussed the changing and future health and care landscape, the resourcing, funding and leadership aspects to navigate the path ahead.

The restructuring of the NHS and commissioning in England post pandemic has added additional uncertainty and reluctance from clinical leaders and organisations to commit to change, yet the event reaffirmed the passion for clearer long-term strategies to effect meaningful progress nationally.

Cathryn Edwards offered a compelling overview of the healthcare landscape with key messages to support change

• Funding approaches should follow clinical strategy, rather than dictating it
• The interface between health and social care demands innovation across sectors, disciplines, and diseases, moving away from single disease-based models of service provision
• Preventative healthcare strategies need to be partnered with rehabilitation medicine initiatives
• High standards of palliative and end of life care will support a ‘whole community approach’ and can be part of the solution for public health challenges such as dementia care in our region
• The system’s capacity - ie workforce and infrastructure (beds) were identified as a key derailers to the implementation of change and increased productivity
• We need a longer term and apolitical approach to health and social care strategy

Rowcroft Hospice was singled out as one innovative example of how future focussed health care which integrates frailty, dementia, and palliative /end of life care​, in the context of a sustainable community setting could be achieved.

John Bryant of Wellspring Consultancy provided insights on the leadership traits required across healthcare (the 6 Cs) and also emphasised the way forward was for:

• A new ‘leadership and commissioning partnership’ where the commissioned must also be actively involved as commissioners
• Systemic and systematic collaboration and share values across all parts of the care system
• Multi-team systems with a focus on benefits
• Emerging opportunities including funding are a way forward
• A regional approach to assessing the unmet health and social care needs in the South West.

SWGS will progress and convene further action to define and understand:

• the top unmet health and social care needs in our communities.
• How to support the business and charity sectors to engage with local and national funding of these priorities.

SWGS plans to host a follow-on meeting in Spring /Summer 2026 to update on the regional progress of the above initiative. Please keep in touch with us and let us know if you’d like to be in the room next time.