Measuring what matters: Outcomes that make sense for everyone
Communicating the benefits of integrated care, partnership and collaboration among staff, patients and carers, the wider community and stakeholders is a key objective in Tower Hamlets Together (THT). We recognise that getting this right involves building trust, confidence and respect, supported by dialogue which learns from the past and good practice.
In 2016, the THT Board developed an outcomes framework that described our collective ambition to improve the health and wellbeing of the population in a way that’s understandable both to professionals and the people they serve. Overseen by a reference group of clinicians, other professionals and a local carer to guide the process and drawing on the messages from previous engagement and involvement, further discussion led to the development of a set of ‘I’ statements, informed by what matters most to local residents.
The I statements
In 2017 the New Economics Foundation tested the framework’s legitimacy and concluded that “the majority of outcomes identified by THT have been reflected in some shape and form with the residents of Tower Hamlets.”
While they discovered that “most of the assets people valued in Tower Hamlets are linked to how they impact on their health and wellbeing”, they also challenged us to think beyond health and social care, towards a broader focus on life outcomes thus reinforcing the importance of partnerships – no one organisation alone can do all the things that are required.
Next steps
Plans are now underway for the framework to drive the commissioning and provision of services from April 2018. The starting point is to explore how the framework will assist the partnership work underway across the three THT lifecourse workstreams.