Sam Keighley, VCSE Sector Lead, Shares her Personal Reflections – February 2026
As we’ve known for some time, the Bradford District and Craven (BDC) Health and Care System is changing. As things continue to evolve, I thought it a good time to share my personal reflections on the changes starting to take place.
The reduction in size of NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) has begun, with many ICB colleagues in BDC applying for and being approved for voluntary redundancy. There are some really good staff leaving. What worries me most about this, as well as the knowledge of BDC we are losing, is that many people leaving have been strong advocates for our sector. All will have left by mid‑April.
All remaining ICB staff across West Yorkshire will take part in a recruitment process as part of a much smaller organisation. This process will start in April and is expected to end in June. This means that, as well as losing staff we’ve worked with for a long time, it’s also possible that we will see new staff coming into BDC who don’t know our place or our diverse communities. Of course, bringing in new thinking can be helpful. And there will be lots of relationship‑building to do in the second half of this year with colleagues new to BDC, as well as colleagues we know but who will be in different roles.
I want you to know that I will continue to remind whoever comes to work in our system that they have a duty to involve and support our local VCSE.
As part of the ICB changes, some functions that have been delivered locally are transferring to West Yorkshire, and a small number of roles will go to NHS England North East and Yorkshire. The thing most likely to affect us as a sector is the transfer of the commissioning function to West Yorkshire. I will work with you over the next weeks and months to ensure that people understand what makes Bradford District and Craven unique and a place we are proud to serve.
Photo above of Sam Keighley, writing as VCSE Sector Lead within the Health and Care Partnership in Bradford District and Craven
There’s a lot of challenge coming, and I believe there is also cause for hope.
Like all places, BDC needs to develop a Place Provider Partnership (PPP). I’m working with staff from the VCSA to produce a video presentation to explain the new emerging governance structures, including where the PPP sits within that. That will be available in early March.
Each place needs to develop a PPP in at least shadow form by 1st April this year, and all PPPs need to be fully functioning by April 2027. The PPP will be made up of all partners, including our sector. This is a responsibility that I will need your support with as VCSE Sector Lead. Over time the PPP will make decisions about where resources should be directed to help deliver ambitions set out in the BDC Health Care and Wellbeing Strategy, including tackling health inequalities. It’s great that we have a voice at this table. Alongside primary care colleagues and others, it provides the place to challenge for stronger effort designed at bringing services closer to communities, delivered by people they trust, and delivering prevention activities.
There are two areas for us, as a sector, to focus on so that we can influence and shape our PPP for our place.
1. Co‑ordinate and share our collective knowledge even more effectively
Many of you who, like me, are advocating and offering your expertise in different parts of the system came together at Victoria Hall in December when we talked about this. As a result, a few of us are now piloting a simple feedback form which staff at the VCSA will collate regularly. The more of us that do this, the more insight there will be to help us influence the health and care system for BDC and West Yorkshire. If you are prepared to contribute, please email Nadine Osuji, Sector Voice Lead, at the VCSA, at nadine@thevcsalliance.org.uk. The more of us that do this, the better we can influence on behalf of our communities. Nadine will also make sure you are being recompensed for your time and expertise.
2. Even better connectivity across our sector
Like primary care colleagues, we also need to demonstrate more visibly our connectivity as a VCSE sector, including with VCSE organisations working with our most underserved communities. We have some great connectivity already — e.g., the Mental Health Provider Forum, Young Lives Forum, Race Equality Network, Briefing Bradford, ABDC Partnership delivering the Activation contract and other activity to support the sector, VCSE community anchor organisations working with Community Partnerships, and Wellbeing Network partners, to name but a few. Over the next weeks and months, I’ll be doing some thinking — hopefully with lots of you — about how we can use our collective connectivity to gain and share knowledge that supports us all and brings further benefits to our communities across Bradford District and Craven.
It is important for me to stress once again that these are my personal reflections, and we expect formal communications to be shared in due course around the PPPs. There is work for us to do as a sector before 1 April 2027 so that the VCSE continues to be seen as an equal partner in our PPP. I will, as always, continue to do what I can, and I will also need your support.
I hope these reflections are useful in keeping you, your staff, and boards up to speed about what’s going on. As always, if you have questions and/or comments, please contact me directly at sam@thevcsalliance.org.uk.
