Community health spending boost of £3.2m allocated for Enfield

North Mid boss hails “significant amount of investment” following years of “underinvestment”, reports Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter

North Middlesex Hospital and (inset) Shola Adegoroye

Enfield will benefit from an extra £3.2million of NHS funding “in recognition of historical underinvestment” in the borough’s community health services.

The plan, which will be aided by a new recruitment drive, means that additional community health provision is expected to have “gone live” by the start of next year.

Shola Adegoroye, director of operations for North Middlesex University Hospital and also in charge of community health services, discussed the upcoming spending boost at a meeting of Enfield Council’s health and wellbeing board on Tuesday (1st).

The “significant amount of investment” for Enfield comes “in recognition of historical underinvestment” compared to other boroughs, Adegoroye said, with the funding boost “formally confirmed” in early August.

The community health boss said that the extra funds will go towards a “frailty focus” in the borough as well as special school nursing services. Adegoroye described the latter as a “particular area of importance” and a “risk identified” between the NHS and Enfield councillors.

Speaking at a previous meeting in March, Labour councillor Alev Cazimoglu noted that the local authority had lost around £178m – roughly 60% – of its annual funding since 2010, resulting in financial pressure on statutory services such as adult social care.

The government’s Fair Funding Review, which concluded last November, means the local council will receive an estimated £203million boost to its finances over three years – representing a 58% rise in its ‘core spending power’.

Cllr Cazimoglu said the new funding settlement represented “a bit of light at the end of the tunnel” but that a significant amount of work remains in rebalancing over a decade of government austerity measures.

Speaking on Tuesday, Adegoroye said the extra £3.2m NHS funding will be “focused towards Enfield” as part of a government drive aimed at redirecting resources “towards neighbourhood health” and adopting a “preventative mindset rather than a treatment mindset” in healthcare provision for both children and adults.

“Ultimately it’s about identifying and supporting residents before they even become patients – so reducing pressure at the front door of A&E,” Adegoroye said.

The move is being paid for through existing NHS budgets.

“It’s technically money within the system but it’s been redirected towards this new model,” the North Mid boss explained, adding: “This is a really exciting time for health and social care services working together, but also for Enfield in particular.”

The borough’s funding boost is part of a national plan – dubbed the “1% shift” – being implemented by the NHS West and North London Integrated Care Board (WNL ICB).

The ICB says the measures will see a “system-wide commitment” to an incremental redirection of funding from acute services into primary, community and preventative care.

The NHS board argues that the measure is “central” in “driving a fundamental shift from a hospital-centric model of care towards one that prioritises prevention, early intervention, and community-based support”.

The ICB says that the “deliberate rebalancing of resources is essential to improving population health outcomes, reducing demand on acute services, and addressing longstanding health inequalities across the West and North London footprint”.

WNL ICB is the largest integrated care board in England, tasked with serving 4.5 million people across 13 London boroughs. It was officially launched in April following a merger decision made last year by the former North Central London and North West London ICBs.

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