On Air Now

Mike on Breakfast

8:00am - Noon

  • 01723 336444

Now Playing

Foreigner

Waiting For A Girl Like You

Download

York and Scarborough NHS Bosses Call For Closer Working With Mayor

Wednesday, 26 March 2025 15:28

By Anttoni James Numminen, Local Democracy Reporter

The NHS trust that runs Scarborough Hospital has said it wants to work more closely with the region’s elected mayor to reduce health inequalities on the coast.

Health bosses have said they want to work more closely with York and North Yorkshire’s Mayor, David Skaith, to prevent coastal health inequalities from arising and to tackle existing ones.

At a board meeting on Wednesday, March 26, Martin Barkley, the chair of the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said the trust would be writing to the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority about being “part of an anchor institution network on the East coast”.

He told health bosses that the trust as an ‘anchor institution, has “a big role to play and can make a big contribution to reducing inequalities”.

A report on what the trust “can, and should be doing to help prevent inequalities from arising in the first place and tackling existing ones” was presented and is set to form part of an implementation plan for the next two years.

Dawn Parkes, a trust board member and chief nurse, said: 

“As a big employer, how do we enable the most deprived, I just take the healthcare academy as an example.

“We’ve taken apprentices in with no qualifications, got them to be able to do the apprenticeship, and I think we can build on some really great work that we’ve already got going, but we just need to spread it further than we’ve done.”

Jim Dillon, a non-executive director, said: 

“I think now that we’ve got a combined authority with an elected mayor, the responsibilities of that body should be precisely that, to try and bring together strategies which match up the skill provision.

“It’s really making sure you’ve got the right people with the right skills to match what employers demand.”

Simon Morritt, chief executive of the York and Scarborough NHS Trust, said the trust already worked with the City of York and North Yorkshire councils but noted “they’re just not defined as anchor networks”.

Mr Morritt added that with the support of the board, he would be contacting Mayor Skaith directly to discuss closer cooperation on the reduction and prevention of coastal health inequalities.

At a meeting of the Scarborough and Whitby area committee on Friday, March 21, councillors and local MP Alison Hume also called on the mayor to ensure that the coast is a “priority” for the combined authority and said that a dedicated staff member should be assigned to coastal issues.

Did you find this article useful?

This is the Coast is committed to providing a daily local news service for the Yorkshire Coast. We are a small locally owned and operated business which employs professional journalists and reporters. We do not receive any public funding or grants and we are entirely funded by our local commercial operations. We enjoy fabulous support from local businesses who work with us on their advertising and marketing campaigns, but the cost of providing high quality, well researched, fact checked local news coverage is significant.

If you appreciate what This is the Coast does, and would like to help support our journalism, please consider supporting us on a monthly basis today.

A small contribution from all our readers would really help support independent journalism for the Yorkshire Coast.

More from Yorkshire Coast News

Comments

Add a comment

Log in to the club or enter your details below.

Follow Us

Get Our Apps

Our Apps are now available for iOS, Android and Smart Speakers.

  • Available on the App Store
  • Available on Google Play
  • Just ask Amazon Alexa
  • Available on Roku

Today's Weather

  • Scarborough

    Sunny

    High: 13°C | Low: 4°C

  • Filey

    Sunny

    High: 13°C | Low: 4°C

  • Whitby

    Sunny

    High: 13°C | Low: 4°C

  • Bridlington

    Sunny

    High: 14°C | Low: 3°C

  • Hornsea

    Sunny

    High: 14°C | Low: 3°C

  • Driffield

    Sunny

    High: 14°C | Low: 3°C

News