What is the MK Deal and what does it mean for you?
The MK Deal was agreed following the creation of the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board.
It is a shared commitment across the local NHS organisations, Milton Keynes Council and other partners to ensure local services meet your needs.
Who is part of the MK Deal?
- Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue
- BLMK Integrated Care Board
- Central North West London (CNWL) NHS Trust
- Healthwatch
- Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise
- Milton Keynes Hospital
- Milton Keynes City Council
- Primary Care Network
- Thames Valley Police
What are the aims of the MK Deal?
'Improving system flow' which means:
- Strengthening the day to day management of the urgent care system
- Simplifying of existing routes to access to care
- More integrated workforce to address workforce shortages
- Planning and delivery of the 'virtual ward'
- Agreement of shared risk management and other clinical policies
- Improved link up with primary care services
- All decisions on the deployment of funding for these services
How will we know if we are making progress:
- Percentage of patients in Milton Keynes hospital not meeting criteria to reside
- 78 week waits at our hospital for elective care
- Number of 30 minute ambulance handover delays at our hospital
- The proportion of older people (65 and over) still at home 91 days after discharge
- Percentage of two hour urgent community response referrals achieving the two hour standard
Tackling obesity
- Strengthening NHS and Public Health commissioned weight management services.
- Developing new ways to support people lose weight, including the use of wearable technology, use of pharmacological therapies, campaigns in schools and primary care.
- Shaping the food and activity environment to prevent more people reaching an unhealthy weight in the future. Examples include planning policy, licensing, reward of active travel and employment policies.
How will we know if we are making progress:
- Prevalence of overweight (including obesity) among school children of Reception age
- Prevalence of overweight (including obesity) among school children in Year 6
- Percentage point gap in the prevalence of overweight (including obesity) between the most and least deprived areas, as measured in year 6
- Adult prevalence of overweight/obesity.
Children and young people’s mental health, and managing complex needs will also be included in priorities. More details will follow in early Spring 2023.
How is Healthwatch Milton Keynes be involved in the MK Deal?
When talking about setting up Integrated Care Systems (ICSs), NHS England makes it clear that people and communities must be involved in the design and decision making of health and care services. The guidance also states that ICSs must work with local Healthwatch as key partners.
So here's how we play our part:
- We sit on the Milton Keynes Health and Care Partnership which owns the MK Deal, where we monitor and challenge how the people of Milton Keynes are being involved in the MK Deal. We monitor the impact any changes are having on our community, and focus on priorities for residents.
- We've been involved in the MK Deal as it has developed, to ensure that patients are placed at the centre of the Deal.
- We have been involved in workshops on ‘system flow’ where we were able to challenge past progress on issues such as discharge from hospital; present patient views on services that have been shared with us, and champion the need for patients with experience to be involved in the design of services that aim to improve system flow.
- We are working with community health services, where we’re learning about your experiences of community care, and exploring patient experiences of new ‘virtual wards’.
We’ll regularly update this page with blogs about our involvement and monitoring of the MK Deal. We'll also keep you up to date with opportunities to participate in the design of services, and have your say about your experiences.
