• Staffordshire County Council
• Stoke-on-Trent City Council
• University Hospital of North Midlands (UHNM) NHS Trust
• North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust
• Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
• University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust
• West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust

In Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, avoidable premature death from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in people under 75 years old is almost double the England average, as is premature death in those with a serious mental illness (SMI).

We have a high prevalence of smoking, obesity and poor achievement of blood pressure targets.

Some communities also experience social exclusion – this is where people struggle to access support with things like housing, secure employment, or health and care services. These problems are usually linked to other difficulties such as poverty, violence or complex trauma, and need special care.

In addition, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent includes some of the most deprived communities in England, and people in our most deprived areas live with poor health for 12 years longer than those living in less deprived communities.

Infant mortality is an indicator of the general health of an entire population. Stoke-on-Trent has had one of the highest birth rates in England and Wales in recent years. Many of these babies are likely to be born with a low or very low birthweight. The infant mortality rate is the highest in the country and almost twice as high as the average for England.

Generally, the adult population experienced good wellbeing before the pandemic. However, since the start of COVID-19, all areas have seen a decrease in people’s happiness, satisfaction with their life and feeling worthwhile, and an increase in anxiety.

We have high death rates from respiratory diseases in people aged under 75, but low rates of review of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Our ambition is to build a culture of research and innovation across our ICS that is responsive to those in most need in the communities we serve. We are ambitious in our plans to support collaborative research and to attract and retain high-calibre, motivated and innovative staff to support best care in our region.

To deliver our ambition we will continue to build on our considerable regional strengths in research and innovation. We are part of the Staffordshire and Shropshire Health and Care Research Partnership (SSHERPa), the ambition of which is to enhance the opportunities for collaborative research working with our neighbouring ICS (Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin). The SSHERPa partnership brings together our local higher education institutions (Keele and Staffordshire Universities), NHS providers, local authorities, VCSE networks, National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network West Midlands, and West Midlands Academic Health Science Network (AHSN). Building and strengthening these partnerships gives opportunities to identify and develop ideas, and apply for funding to support research and innovation, at a system-wide level.

Individual partners in the ICS have a strong track record of delivering and collaborating on research and innovation. We have a multi-disciplinary collaborative research partnership, which will develop and deliver high-quality research that improves the health and wellbeing of our communities, ensuring health and care commissioning and service provision is evidence-based and underpinned by research and innovation. It is widely recognised that organisations with a reputation for providing excellence in research attract and retain high-quality staff and achieve better patient outcomes. Through the SSHERPa partnership approach we will reduce competition in research, reduce duplication, maximise our research opportunities and expand the opportunities for our local population and health and care staff to become engaged and involved in research.

Our vision is to support evidence-based health and care transformation, driving best health and care for our communities through excellence in research. We will achieve this vision by delivering against the following objectives:

• Developing collaborative integrated research addressing the health and care priorities of our region, expanding the range and diversity of research undertaken
• Fostering a culture of collaborative research and innovation with strong leadership championing the strategy
• Developing the capacity and capability for evidence-based health and care
• Increasing the opportunity for our region’s population to engage in research and for our communities to identify and shape health and care research needs
• Developing a collaborative infrastructure for research and innovation in our region to reduce duplication, supporting and growing an increased research portfolio
• Supporting the implementation of best evidence into practice – commissioning and provision of services.

You can read more about the work of Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care System by visiting our website.