NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GGC)
- Environmental health
- Poverty
GGC Overview
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GGC) is the largest Health Board in Scotland serving a population of 1.3 million people and covering the following areas:
- Glasgow City
- East Dunbartonshire
- East Renfrewshire
- Inverclyde
- Renfrewshire
- West Dunbartonshire
We met Zofia McFarlane (Health Improvement Lead) to hear more about GGC’s Anchor institution programme.
Zofia highlighted three objectives being progressed through GGC’s Anchor activities:
- Foster local economic growth through strategic partnerships.
- Enhance the local workforce and support sustainable practices.
- Improve community engagement and promote health and well-being.
What’s going well?
We heard about two exciting areas of progress in the Anchors programme at GGC: the governance structure and building upon existing partnerships. The existing community wealth building (CWB) group at GGC is made up of a diverse group of experienced members such as:
- workforce leads
- procurement leads
- land and assets leads
- representatives from health improvement teams
This provided a good foundation for the Anchors work and having a range of perspectives was encouraging.
GGC’s Anchors strategic plan covers a three-year period and it was felt that this approach provided clear direction and allowed a focus on key priority areas. This also allowed the Anchors team to identify what was actually ‘doable’ over the three-year period and plan work appropriately.
Zofia reflected on using the progression framework - Harnessing the power of anchor institutions: a progression framework for Scottish organisations. and how it had influenced GGC’s Anchors journey. The progression framework helped GGC identify areas for improvement and allowed the setting of achievable goals.
Workforce: Colleagues in public health supported the workforce pillar by completing a literature review into young people’s perceptions of health and social care careers and perceived challenges or blockages to entering these careers. A comprehensive evidence summary and synthesis was produced and shared with workforce lead. Results did not warrant commissioning new research but rather using the evidence already published to inform interventions. This evidence summary has been used to inform planning of future employability engagements.
Procurement:Procurement Development Project has been co-delivered by NHS GGC procurement and public health departments and Supplier Development Programme during 2024/25. The project aimed to improve supplier engagement, develop new and existing suppliers, and increase use and awareness of the Community Benefits Gateway (CBG) portal via a series of workshops and activities. This is a continuation of previous award-winning work improving supplier diversity within NHS GGC.
Land and Assets: The Land and Asset Anchor Pillar continues to be supported by delivery of Art and Health Strategy within all capital developments as well as the Biodiversity and Greenspace work. A great recognition of these efforts was Clydebank Health and Care Centre winning two awards at the Building Better Healthcare annual awards in November 2024: Best Healthcare Development under £25 million and Best Collaborative Arts Project.
Additional examples on our website under Community Wealth Building: Our Areas of focus - NHSGGC
What feels challenging?
We heard how it can be challenging to capture all the work being carried out across GGC. Some teams are progressing work which could be captured as ‘Anchors’ but it might have already been reported elsewhere, being delivered as part of other existing strategies. Therefore, time and effort must be given to raising awareness of Anchor activity and how it fits with and complements other GGC priorities.
Increasing confidence in teams and relationship building to facilitate this reflective process was something Zofia highlighted and her passion for ‘telling the story’ was evident through our conversation.
Balancing realistic goals and financial constraints with ambitious projects can feel challenging and is increasingly recognised by the team.
Maintaining consistency and momentum was also mentioned. Teams will naturally evolve and change and staff resources and capacity change frequently. Keeping engagement high with colleagues could be a challenge, but there is a recognition of the importance of strong communication and relationship building to secure success.