In 2021 Integrated Care System (ICS) partners identified a growing need to change the way we tackle local workforce pressures within our Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Redbridge (BHR) and wider north east London (NEL) communities.

Each of our ICS partners is facing increasing demands over staff replacements and the upskilling of its workforce.

The BHR Health and Care Academy views all health and social care partners across BHR and NEL as one whole system.

The Grow Our Own approach was born out of this research - with a mission of actively solving workforce challenges in social care and health across the patch and promoting education and training for local people to help them access new careers.

Roles could be AHPs (Allied Health Professionals), social workers, nurses (and school nurses), pharmacists, health visitors, social prescribers and all the other professionals who deliver fantastic levels of care and support across local authorities, primary care, acute care, mental health and other organisations within BHR and the wider NEL region.

The Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge Health and Care Academy was established to embed the Grow Our Own system for the benefit of our local residents and ICS partners.

It is now fully operational and busily creating innovative solutions to improve workforce recruitment, staff retention, learning and training.

Focusing on these system-wide needs, what makes the approach to workforce solutions so unique is the Academy's data dashboard, which is already driving change, allowing ICS partners to view essential workforce data from multiple sources within health and social care - all in one place.