System Learning from Covid-19

In June 2020 we invited local health and care leaders from across the Suffolk and North East Essex health and care system to contribute their reflections and learning to enable collective learning from Covid-19. These reflections, combined with a range of data and wider information have been consolidated into a detailed report “Reflections on System Learning from Covid-19”.

The report is available for download below.

One of the key conclusions from report was that Covid-19 further amplified the many equalities in our communities in Suffolk and North East Essex. It has become increasingly clear that COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact on many who already face disadvantage and discrimination. The impact of the virus has been particularly detrimental on people living in areas of high deprivation, on people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities (BAME),  older people, men, those with a learning disability and others with protected characteristics.

The report identified ten key themes which we believe are important as we continue to respond to the challenges of Covid-19:

• Covid-19 further amplified the many existing inequalities in our communities
• We underestimated the inherent resilience in our local communities
• We are more adaptable than we thought – with a collective focus we can move mountains
• Adopting new technology has potentially brought new opportunities and challenges
• The safety, flexibility and resilience of our people and workplaces are vital
• Knowledge is key – we need the right data and intelligence to deliver better care together
• We need to be joined up across sectors about funding and investment
• In recovering our services we need to ‘build back better’ and be prepared to face future challenges
• We need to plan both for the many and the few
• Enabling collaboration is even more important now than it ever was