Walsall Together has been shortlisted for two awards at this year’s Health Service Journal Digital Awards. The annual event celebrates the power of digital products, projects and services to transform care delivery and enhance efficiency.

Working closely with The Black Country Integrated Care Board and online data company VUIT, the partnership has been successfully shortlisted in two categories for the Black Country Population Outcomes Framework, including Reducing Health Inequalities through Digital and Generating Impact in Population Health through Digital.

The Black Country Population Outcomes Framework has been developed, alongside a digital monitoring tool, to help support partnership decision making and to measure the impact of transformation initiatives in delivering population health and wellbeing outcomes.

This means that partnerships across the Black Country now have a comparable way of assessing outcome-based initiatives and measuring their expected impact on priority outcomes, leading the way for outcome-based commissioning in the future.

Michelle McManus, Director for Integrated and Place Based Development for Walsall Together, said: “We are delighted to have been shortlisted in two categories for our work to develop an outcomes-based framework. The overall wellbeing of our population is key to reducing health inequalities locally and this includes not just health but things like being financially secure and feeling connected to the people around us.

“Through this framework we will be able to improve the ways in which people can take control of their own lives as well as having a more targeted approach for our most vulnerable people who experience the poorest outcomes.”

The Black Country ICBs digital team has also been successful in two categories for the Black Country Connected Programme, including Digital Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Digital Literacy, Education and Upskilling alongside the digital first primary care team who has been shortlisted for the Improving Primary Care through Digital Award, for their work in supporting GP practices in the Black Country to deliver the national Primary Care Access Recovery Programme.

Mark Axcell, Chief Executive Officer for the NHS Black Country ICB, said: “It’s fantastic to see to see so many of our teams being shortlisted at this year’s HSJ Digital Awards.

“These projects not only demonstrate the importance of partnership working but also the significant benefit that digital innovation is bringing to both patients and staff across the Black Country.

“Huge congratulations to everyone involved and best of luck for the awards night.”

The winners of the HSJ Digital Awards 2024 will be announced during an awards ceremony in Manchester on Thursday 6 June.