Business leader to head SEED healthcare alliance in Lancashire and South Cumbria

The former managing director of BAE Systems Corporate Services, Steve Fogg, has been appointed as chair of the SEED alliance - a multi-sector collaborative set up to contribute to ‘health and wealth’ in Lancashire and South Cumbria.

SEED comprises the four universities - University of Central Lancashire, Cumbria, Edge Hill and Lancaster - working with the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System (ICS).

The ICS is the partnership of NHS, local authority, public sector, voluntary, faith, community, social enterprise and academic organisations working together to join up health and care services, listen to the priorities of communities, local people and patients and tackle some of the biggest challenges we are all facing.

SEED was set up to address the social, economic and environmental determinants of health, supporting the health and care system; creating better research and innovation; attracting more inward investment and the best people; and improving productivity, skills, jobs and the economy.

Steve Fogg is the Chair of Lancashire Local Enterprise Partnership; a member of the Pride of Place Board for Blackpool and Chair of the Fylde Coast Responsible Business Network. He is also a non-executive director of East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.

He has a strong interest in supporting mental health in the workplace and spearheaded a unique awareness programme at BAE that started with a small number of local staff and expanded across all BAE’s UK businesses, winning a Princess Royal Award in 2019 for its impact on employees.

Steve Fogg said: “I can see huge potential for collaborating across sectors to improve the health and wellbeing of our population.

“We have seen fantastic collaborations during the pandemic, which have accelerated new ways of working and I am looking forward to playing my part in this critical time for our population in terms of physical and mental health and also financial wellbeing.”

A clinical leader in digital health for the region, Dr Amanda Thornton, has been appointed deputy chair of the alliance.

Dr Thornton, consultant clinical psychologist and the clinical lead for dementia in Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System (ICS) - as well as Digital Health Clinical Lead for the ICS, said: “Now, more than ever, we can see the connections between the wider events that determine our wellbeing and affect our health – housing, diet, poverty, education and employment.

“As the pandemic continues to have an impact on the economy, we need to act together to unite our research and educational expertise with the strengths of our business and enterprise skills to try and prevent and mitigate the health risks posed to our communities.”

SEED is co-ordinated by the Innovation Agency, the Academic Health Science Network for the North West Coast.

Steve Fogg recently took part in an Innovation Agency podcast interview along with his counterpart at Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, Asif Hamid MBE. It can be heard here: https://audioboom.com/posts/7692637-lep-chairs-share-their-covid-19-experiences

Read this blog written jointly by Dr Amanda Thornton, Linda Vernon and Peter Armer, for the NHS Confederation: ‘The sweet spot where new and old power collide – that’s where the magic happens!’