WELC

An evaluation of the Waltham Forest, East London collaborative (WELC) Integrated Care Pioneer Programme.

The team:

The Waltham Forest and East London (WEL) Integrated Care programme was one of the 14 successful applicants to achieve pioneer status for integrated care in May 2013. WEL brought together commissioners, providers and local authorities covering the area served by Barts Health NHS Trust (BHT) - the largest NHS trust in the UK, serving a population of almost a million people and covering the London Boroughs of Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets and Newham.

A two-year qualitative evaluation of WEL was carried out between September 2014 and August 2016 and looked at different ways of understanding - and motivations for - integrated care across the organisations involved in the programme. This work highlighted how, although governance structures had been set up, a deep chasm remained between strategic thinking and operational delivery.

The purpose of the third year of this qualitative evaluation of the WEL was to gain an understanding of the delivery of integrated care on the ground. We looked at three pathways to assess collaboration patterns within and across multidisciplinary teams from acute, community and social care: admission avoidance, discharge from hospital and end of life care. We focused on the impact on the ground of organisational development work supporting integrated care and identified staff's organisational development needs.

Executive Summary

Tower Hamlets Report

Waltham Forest Report

Newham Report

Maps of Pathways in Tower Hamlets

Maps of Pathways in Waltham Forest

Maps of Pathways in Newham