Health and care integration in Lancashire and South Cumbria took a step forward this week with the appointment of four new directors, each of whom will be responsible for improving the health and wellbeing of residents within our local place areas.

As a newly established Integrated Care Board (ICB), we are committed to the integration of health and care services; supporting the ambitions of the Health and Care Act 2022. As part of this we need new arrangements so that we can align and enable deeper integration with local government and these appointments will be fulfilling one of the cornerstones of legislation.

Many factors affect people’s health and wellbeing from their homes and personal finances, to their education and employment. Place-based partnerships will bring together organisations and groups that provide services and care to better support people and communities.

The new directors were appointed by the Board and executive team of the ICB for Lancashire and South Cumbria, in collaboration with the four upper tier local authorities; Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Cumbria and Lancashire.

The new directors are:

• Claire Richardson – Blackburn with Darwen
• Karen Smith – Blackpool (interim)*
• Jane Scattergood – South Cumbria
• Louise Taylor –  Lancashire

Kevin Lavery, chief executive for NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB said: “I am excited to welcome Karen, Claire, Jane and Louise into these exciting new roles which are fundamental to the deeper integration of health and care.

“These roles have been put in place through collaboration with local authority partners and provide a real opportunity to make a significant difference to improving the health and wellbeing of our population working in our local areas of Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Cumbria and Lancashire."

A place-based partnership is a collaboration of planners and providers across health, local authority and the wider community, who take collective responsibility for improving the health and wellbeing of residents within a place.

The board of NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria recently made a decision to align the place-based partnerships to the four local authority boundaries to promote and enable deeper integration and collaboration with health and social care. Read more about place-based partnerships and the boundary changes.

*Pending confirmation by chief officer committee.

Claire has over 20 years' experience of leadership at operational, strategic and executive levels, in jointly responsible roles across the NHS and Local Government. She has spent much of her career working in Blackburn with Darwen and across Pennine Lancashire. Currently Claire is Director of Strategic Commissioning and Director of Adult Social Services (DASS) at Rochdale Borough Council, where she leads the development the Integrated Care Partnership with a strong focus on improving outcomes and reducing inequalities for residents as well as being responsible for Adult Social Care, multi-million-pound joint budgets, a large staff team and improvement of health and care services. 

Claire is passionate about improving the lives of local communities. She brings experience of building strong partnerships across health and care for adults and children, developing and delivering ambitious plans for transforming local health, wellbeing and care services, and improving outcomes and experience of our residents.    

Karen is currently director of adult social services at Blackpool Council and has worked for the Council for 21 years in adult social care and policy roles. Karen will be retaining her statutory director of adult services role and combining with health, through this role.

Amongst her existing responsibilities, she is strategic lead for the integrated community learning disability service, and leads the council's input to hospital discharges through the integrated transfer of care hub as well as the integrated bed based intermediate care service at the ARC, reablement at home, and the council's input to mental health services. Karen is responsible for the council's own in house care services as well as external care providers; she has a lead role in market management and supporting quality in the regulated care sector on behalf of both NHS and local authority commissions. These are all areas where better outcomes are achieved for Blackpool's population when the NHS and Social Care work together.

Karen also has extensive experience working in the voluntary sector, for both Citizen’s Advice and Shelter’s Housing Aid Centre. She is co-chair of All Age Autism Board, chair of Fylde Coast Health and Social Care Career Academy, co-chair of Blackpool Autism Partnership and Blackpool Learning Disability Partnership

Karen was born and brought up in Blackpool and, after 10 years away, returned in 1992 to live, work and raise her family here. She is a Team GB middle distance triathlete, an avid live gig goer and a season ticket holder at Blackpool FC.

Jane qualified as a registered nurse in 1990, a midwife in 1992 and a specialist community public health nurse (health visitor) in 2002. 

Jane was awarded the title Queens Nurse in 2019 and is an Honorary Member of the Faculty of Public Health. She sits on the Fitness to Practise panel of the Nursing and Midwifery Council and is a standing member of the NICE Quality Standards Advisory Committee. Jane has a special interest in maximising the contribution of nursing, nurses as leaders, public health nursing and professional regulation and discipline.

Jane brings expertise in public health interventions for the population, particularly in the fields of maternity, early years and population screening programmes and has a special interest in quality assurance, quality improvement and demonstrating the impact of strategies and interventions. Jane is Chair of ICON, a national programme to drive down the incidence of abusive head trauma in infancy.

Jane has led the Covid-19 Vaccination Programme in Lancashire and South Cumbria. Jane lives in South Cumbria and had worked clinically for many years in Barrow-in-Furness; in the community, in out of hours primary care and in acute care. Jane was a volunteer custody visitor at Barrow police station on behalf of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cumbria and now sits as a member of Cumbria Constabulary’s Ethics and Integrity Committee.    

Louise is currently executive director of adult services, health and wellbeing at Lancashire County Council and chair of Adult Social Care and Health Partnership for Lancashire and South Cumbria. Louise will be retaining her statutory director of adult services role and combining with health, through this role.

She has 25 years’ senior leadership experience, including 11 years’ experience working at director level in a local authority. She is statutory accountable officer for adult services for England’s fourth largest county council.

She has delivered strategy and change programmes and played a key role in the Lancashire Resilience Forum during the Covid-19 pandemic, which co-ordinated services across health, local authorities and the voluntary sector.

Louise is Lancashire born and bred and in her leisure time she reads, walks with Dave the collie and practices Pilates. Louise is a member of the Chorley and Leyland Methodist Circuit Leadership team.

Louise expects to take up post once she has appointed a deputy in the county council.