Welcome to Team Leeds

Everybody who works or volunteers in health and social care within our city is part of Team Leeds.

Team Leeds is made up of over 60,000 employees and volunteers from hundreds of different teams and organisations, including NHS Trusts, charities, GP surgeries, the city council, private care providers, our colleges and universities, and many more. As a sector, we work collaboratively to ensure the best care for our patients and service users, and the best opportunities for our staff.

How do we work together?

By working with our peers across the city, we can use our collective knowledge and resources to make a real positive difference. Here are some examples of how we’ve done that so far…

Community Care Hubs

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many found themselves isolated from their loved ones and communities, or falling into financial difficulties, which resulted in lots of people in Leeds unable to access essential items such as food and prescriptions. To help people stay healthy and safe, a group of third sector organisations joined together to form a partnership of Community Care Hubs. Supported by local volunteers, the Community Care Hubs were able to provide essential support to those that needed it most. This included delivering food parcels, dog walking, wellbeing calls, and more.

Palliative Care Network

The Leeds Palliative Care Network is a group of health and care providers who are working together to plan and improve services for adults approaching the end of their lives, and their families and carers. They support and fund over 30 initiatives across Leeds including uniquely designed palliative care ambulances, and a city-wide project that provides end of life care for Leeds’s homeless community.

Staff Health and Wellbeing

Leeds-based health and care employers have collaborated to ensure that the health and wellbeing initiatives offered to staff within their own organisations can be made available to colleagues across the sector, providing equal opportunities for people to prioritise their health and wellbeing.

The Health Protection COVID-19 Response

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Leeds health and care organisations worked together to navigate their way through surveillance, testing, contact tracing, isolation and vaccination, whilst also addressing health inequalities and focusing on our most at-risk communities. The Leeds Outbreak Management Plan was developed as a whole system response to the pandemic to prevent the transmission of Covid-19 and minimise harm, keep people safe, protect vulnerable people, and minimise poverty and inequalities.

Connecting Communities with Health and Care Careers

This programme sees the city work in partnership to provide attractive and progressive careers within disadvantaged or under-represented communities in Leeds, removing traditional barriers to recruitment and employment, and providing practical support to help people succeed. This programme has resulted in 211 people being supported through education, training, and employment, 160 conditional offers of employment made, and 166 accredited qualifications received.

To listen to some more examples of Team Leeds in action, you can watch the Team Leeds Story series here.

Working and Learning as one Team Leeds

The Leeds Health and Care Academy provides all health and care staff and volunteers in Leeds with the opportunity to learn alongside colleagues from other organisations and connect and build relationships with peers across the city.

As a member of Team Leeds, you have access to the Leeds Health and Care Academy’s full portfolio of learning opportunities (which include apprenticeships, workshops, professional and personal development programmes, and more), health and wellbeing initiatives, support services and career development support. Take a look at the Learning Opportunities available to Team Leeds colleagues.

We also encourage you to create your free account on the Leeds Health and Care Learning Portal. A hub for development outside of any mandatory training, you can access over 70 engaging video-based courses addressing equality, diversity, inclusion, wellbeing, leadership and teamwork, and a diverse range of virtual workshops, eLearning packages and Academy programmes. Sign up here.

Networking Opportunities

There are lots of different networking hubs and opportunities available for you to access, where you can meet your Team Leeds peers, and discuss the topics that are important to you. An example of current networking opportunities are listed below, however there are many more…

Leeds Health and Care Academy

If you take part in an Academy development opportunity, you will be doing so with colleagues from across the sector, providing you with an opportunity to learn new skills and build your network at the same time. View our full portfolio here and sign up to the Leeds Health and Care Learning Portal to access development opportunities.

Health and Care Leaders Network

The Forum Central Health and Care Leaders Network is attended by passionate third sector leaders in Leeds who work in health and care. The network provides a space to identify, share and promote good practice across the third sector, make strong and positive connections with peers, provide a safe space for collaborative conversations, and more. To join, email hello@forumcentral.org.uk.

Race Equality Network

The regional Race Equality Network provides a forum to share lived experiences and influence change. The network is leading the way on supporting the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership to deliver on one of their ten big ambitions: ‘We will have a more diverse leadership that better reflects the broad range of talent in West Yorkshire and Harrogate, helping to ensure that the poor experiences in the workplace that are particularly high for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff will become a thing of the past’. To join, email wy.ren@nhs.net.

Health and Wellbeing Opportunities

All staff working in health and care in Leeds can access free of charge health and wellbeing retreats and compassionate circles hosted by Leeds Recovery College, where you can reflect on how you’re feeling, and what you’re experiencing, alongside your peers. Email leedsrecoverycollege.lypft@nhs.net to enquire.

Leeds Female Leaders

A network that supports and encourages the development of women in leadership roles in health and care in Leeds. They also share resources and local opportunities, and host regular meetings. Follow @LeedsWomen1 on Twitter to find out more about the network.

Leeds Palliative Care Network

Regular meetings and resources for health and social care staff in Leeds who provide, or have an interest in, palliative or end of life care. Click here to find out more.

Partnership Organisations

The following organisations and networks in Leeds help us to work together, across organisational boundaries. Click the links in the boxes to find out more about each.

Leeds Care Association

The number one resource for Care services in the Leeds area. Its members include residential homes, nursing homes and domiciliary care providers. Their aim is to promote the best quality care in Leeds and the surrounding area.

Forum Central

Forum Central is the collective voice for the health and care third sector in Leeds. They connect third sector organisations in Leeds with decision makers in health and social care to influence strategic developments, policy and ways of working across health and social care.

Local Care Partnerships

The term used in Leeds to describe our model of joined up working to deliver local care for local people; working in and with local communities. There are 19 LCPs covering all of Leeds.

Leeds Health and Care Academy

The Leeds Health and Care Academy designs and delivers learning and development opportunities and collaborative workforce projects for all health and care staff and organisations across the city of Leeds.

Leeds Academic Health Partnership

Leeds Academic Health Partnership was established to drive innovation which transforms the health and wellbeing of the people of Leeds. They bring together world-class academic expertise to help solve some of the city’s hardest healthcare challenges.

Healthwatch Leeds

Established to connect the voices and experiences of local people with decisions made about their health and care, to work to influence planners, decision makers and service providers in Leeds.

GP Confederation

A member-led organisation that unites over 90 GP practices. They exist to make a positive difference to Leeds residents and to ensure the unified voice of general practice is at the centre of our health and care system.

Public Health Resource Centre

The Public Health Resource Centre (PHRC) offers support to anyone with a responsibility for, or professional interest in, public health or promoting health and wellbeing in Leeds.

NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board

This statutory body is a new type of organisation, governed by partners and focused on collaboration as a means of driving improved outcomes for people in West Yorkshire. This partnership of health and care organisations comes together to plan and deliver joined-up services.

Leeds Health and Care Partnership

Working together with their partners and the people of Leeds, the Leeds Health and Care Partnership is committed to sharing resources, ideas and best practice to improve health outcomes and reduce health inequalities across the city.

How can you be an active member of Team Leeds?

1. By being a champion for the Team Leeds values:

Person-centred and caring | Inclusive and collaborative | Learning and improving |
Respectful and empowering | Acting with honesty, integrity and accountability

2. By seeking out opportunities to meet and collaborate with your peers from across the sector.

You could do this by attending events or networking sessions, or by signing up to a Leeds Health and Care Academy programme where you’ll be learning alongside your Team Leeds colleagues.

3. By speaking to your line manager to discuss ideas for how you can meet,

and learn from others employed by organisations different to your own, or to talk about any other specific areas of interest within collaborative working.