Why Care City?
The way we currently deliver health and social care is unsustainable. Demographic pressures, the changing burden of disease and rising patient and public expectations are driving the need to integrate and innovate.
Care City was set up and funded by NELFT and the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, and today brings together health, social care, and third sector partners from across the system with researchers, education providers, technology experts, small and medium companies and social entrepreneurs to develop the healthcare and workforce models for the future.
Care City responds to two focus areas
Healthy ageing: Frail older populations are a growing proportion of our society, with complex and multiple needs, and a group for whom the whole system of care interacts. Havering has the distinction of being London’s oldest population, with the average age of residents exceeding the national average and the highest proportion of the ‘oldest old’
Social regeneration: With the highest rates of unemployment in Barking and Dagenham (10%) and the lowest levels of life expectancy in London (77 men, 82 women), and known interrelationships between society, employment and health, we want to ensure our programme of work brings investment and opportunity to regenerate our population.
What will success look like?
The local population will have access to research and novel solutions that will collectively support improvements in their own health and the context they live in.
Staff will be able to contribute to cutting edge innovation, education and research, and participate in cross-boundary initiatives
Innovators, entrepreneurs and SMEs, will be able to rapidly test and implement innovations in real-life settings, and iterate and adjust their solutions based on an evaluation to maximise the impact
The UK will benefit from the dissemination of tested solutions, whilst also bringing in new forms of investment and partnerships with industry.
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