MD3432 Health and Care Partnership

1.1.    The projects within this MD form part of the Mayor’s proposed Reducing Inequalities programme.  This MD has been brought forward ahead of the wider Reducing Inequalities delivery plan, which is still being finalised.

London Health and Care Partnership 

1.2.    The London Health and Care Partnership is a key vehicle through which the Mayor and partners will work together to deliver London’s ambition that Londoners have access to a health and care system that supports them when they need it. Made up of the GLA, the NHS, London Councils, London’s Integrated Care Systems (ICSs), the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) and the UK Health Security Agency, the London Health and Care Partnership leads the delivery of the London Health and Care Vision and the London Health Misson.

 
1.3.    This proposal sets out the GLA’s financial contribution to the London Health and Care Partnership: £150,000 in 2026-27. NHS London, London Councils and London’s ICSs will also make financial contributions to this work. This pooled funding covers the staff within the office of the London Health and Care Partnership who coordinate the partnership’s work. It also funds a small number of partnership programmes that are agreed jointly by the leaders of the partnership (the Executive Director for Communities and Skills is the GLA’s representative). Previous Mayoral Decisions (MDs) decisions approved the same level of expenditure for the pooled budget in 2020-21 (MD2704); 2021-22 (MD2704 and MD2799); 2022-23 & 2023-24 (MD3012); and 2024-25 & 2025-26 (MD3326).

London Health Mission 

1.4.    The London Health Mission will reset the London Health and Care Partnership’s strategic framework for joint work in London.  

1.5.    This proposal sets out the GLA’s financial contribution to a jointly funded post hosted at NHS London: £80,000 over two years (£40,000 in 2025-26 and £40,000 in 2026-27). This substantive NHS post – Director of Improvement, Transformation and Partnerships – is also part-funded by the NHS and London Councils to enable the postholder to act as Mission Lead for the London Health Mission, alongside a wider portfolio of NHS work.

Heart Health

1.6.    This proposal sets out the GLA’s financial contribution to the London Health and Care Partnership’s Million Hearts and Minds programme: £100,000 over two years (£50,000 in 2025-26 and £50,000 in 2026-27). This programme aims to improve heart health in London through raising public awareness of risk factors for heart disease and supporting early detection and intervention. As part of this, the Mayor’s funding will support a culturally competent and innovative public-facing campaign. 

1.7.    This proposal sets out the GLA’s financial contribution to the London Heartstarters campaign led by the London Ambulance Service and London Ambulance Service Charity: £150,000 over two years (£50,000 in 2025-6 and £100,000 in 2026-27). This programme aims to place defibrillators in neighbourhoods across London where there is currently limited or no access.
 

2.1.    The overall objective for this work is that Londoners have access to a health and care system that supports them when they need it. The specific objectives for the various programmes are as follows.

2.2.    The London Health and Care Partnership’s aim is to make London the world’s healthiest global city, and the best city in the world in which to receive treatment and care.

2.3.    The London Health Mission’s overall goal is to make London the healthiest global city, through tackling health inequalities and using London’s unique assets. Its aim is by 2035 to significantly close the gap in health inequalities in our city, utilising London's innovation and digital transformation opportunities.

2.4.    London Heartstarters aims to place public access defibrillators in parts of London where there is currently limited or no access. The Mayor’s funding will mean more defibrillators are placed where they are most needed, increasing Londoners’ access to life-saving equipment, and chance of survival in the event of cardiac arrest. The programme model includes training local communities in defibrillator use and CPR, raising Londoners’ awareness and confidence about what to do in an emergency. 

2.5.    The Million Hearts and Minds programme aims to improve heart health in London through raising public awareness of risk factors for heart disease, supporting early detection and intervention and ultimately helping to prevent heart attacks and strokes. As part of that programme, the Mayor’s funding for an innovative heart health public-facing campaign will increase Londoners’ awareness and action on heart health.
 

3.1.    Both the London Health and Care Vision and the London Health Mission have explicit aims to tackle health inequalities. This is central to the work of the London Health and Care Partnership.

3.2.    The London Health Mission will consider how to narrow both the digital literacy gap and health literacy barriers in London. It will also consider intersectionality of inequality, where digital exclusion intersects with poverty, language barriers, and low institutional trust, compounding marginalisation.  

3.3.    Both programmes to improve heart health will focus on tackling health and wider inequalities. The London Heartstarters campaign will prioritise placing new public access defibrillators in areas of London where there is currently no defibrillator or limited access. The innovative public awareness campaign on heart health, whilst London wide, will be culturally competent, and proportionately targeted at groups and communities most at risk of cardiovascular disease.
 

Key risks and issues

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities

4.1    All programmes support London's ambition that Londoners have access a health and care system that supports them when they need it. 

4.2    Work to improve heart health supports the Mayor’s Healthy Living ambition within the London Health Inequalities Strategy: that the healthy choice is the easy choice for all.

Consultations and impact assessments

 4.3    To support the design of the London Health Mission, a programme of community engagement is planned, to gather insights on barriers to digital inclusion and health literacy and to test potential mission interventions. Ongoing engagement will inform the mission’s development and ensure alignment with community needs.

4.4    The Million Hearts and Minds partnership programme has a workstream dedicated to community engagement, including a community advisory board to help steer the programme. The public-facing campaign will be fully informed by, and tested with, stakeholders and Londoners ahead of final development and launch to ensure it has maximum impact, especially with communities most affected by cardiovascular disease.

4.5    The proposed grant funding to the London Ambulance Service Charity (LASC) does not amount to a subsidy, on the basis that LASC does not meet the definition of an “enterprise” under the Subsidy Control Act 2022, as it is not engaged in offering goods or services on a market. The grant is not being used to procure goods or services from LASC, but rather to support their charitable activity of placing defibrillators in public spaces as part of their Heartstarters campaign.

 4.6    There are no known conflicts of interest to note for any of those involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision.

5.1.    Approval is sought for the following:

•    £150,000 in 2026-27 as the GLA’s contribution to the Health and Care Partnership’s pooled fund for the partnership’s London office, and delivery of the London Health Mission and wider partnership programmes

•    £80,000 over two years (£40,000 in 2025-26 and £40,000 in 2026-27) as the GLA’s contribution to a shared partnership post with a lead role for the London Health Mission, hosted at NHS London

•    £150,000 over two years (£50,000 in 2025-26 and £100,000 in 2026-27) as a grant to London Ambulance Service Charity (LASC) to fund 100 additional public access defibrillators in London

•    £100,000 over two years (£50,000 in 2025-26 and £50,000 in 2026-27) to support the London Health and Care Partnership’s Million Hearts and Minds campaign.

5.2.    This will be funded from the following budgets under the proposed Reducing Inequalities programme:

5.3.    Funding for future financial years will be subject to the annual budget setting process and is subject to change.

5.4.    Any contracts that commit the GLA in future years will be subject to appropriate break clauses.

6.1.    The proposed activities fall within the GLA’s general powers under sections 30 and 34 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999, as they promote social development and health improvement in Greater London. Officers have confirmed compliance with the GLA’s statutory duties, including: equality of opportunity, promotion of health and reduction of health equalities, sustainable development and appropriate consultation.  

6.2.    The Mayor must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. Officers have addressed this in the equality comments section, particularly in relation to digital and health literacy barriers, intersectionality of inequality and targeting of heat health inventions to high-risk communities.  

6.3.    The proposed contributions to the London Health and Care Partnership pooled fund the jointly funded NHS post, the Million Hearts and Minds campaign and the London Ambulance Service Charity are treated as grant funding rather than payment for services. Officers must ensure funding is distributed fairly and transparently, that appropriate grant agreements are executed before any commitment or payment and there is compliance with the Subsidy Control Act 2022, where appropriate.  

6.4.    The procurement of a creative agency for the heart health campaign must comply with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code and relevant procurement legislation (if above threshold). Officers must liaise with TfL Commercial and ensure proper contractual documentation is in place before commencement.