Driving Change Through Partnership – Reflections from Jane Bailey, Chair of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
On 21 October 2025, I had the privilege of joining over 950 people at St George’s Cathedral in Southwark for the South London Listens Citizens Health Assembly – a vibrant, community-led event that showcased the extraordinary power of collaboration.
For me, as Chair of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM), it was a moment to reflect on what true partnership means and why it matters now more than ever.
At SLaM, we are proud to be a leading partner in South London Listens – a partnership of three mental health trusts, both South London Integrated Care Boards, local Local authorities Authorities and community groups across south London. Formed initially as an urgent response to tackle the mental health impacts of Covid-19, we’re working with strategic partner Citizens UK to use a community organising approach to understand and address deep-rooted health inequalities – prioritising mental health prevention through tackling systemic barriers to good health and wellbeing.
The Assembly wasn’t just a celebration – it was a call to action. SLaM stood alongside community leaders and NHS partners to reaffirm our pledges in key areas that matter deeply to the people we serve:
Mental Health and Social Isolation: We committed to strengthening the Be Well programme, which tackles loneliness and improves mental health through community-led support. Be Well is working with 95 organisations across south London to take action on mental health – engaging with over 4500 people each month. This pledge was made in partnership with other mental health trusts, reinforcing our shared responsibility to create spaces places where people can build relationships, feel connected and be supported. Examples include spaces for people with dementia, young people accessing coaching and workshops for personal development, support for fathers and young people to strengthen family bonds and parent support networks.
Housing and Health: Housing is health. At the Assembly, I was pleased that SLaM’s plans for developing social housing on the Lambeth Hospital site were recognised as part of the wider Health and Housing Coalition. This work is about more than bricks and mortar – it’s about creating stability and dignity for those who need it most.
Fair Work and Wages: Important leadership from the NHS in south London in championing the Living Wage was celebrated. This includes the important work of David Bradley, SLaM’s CEO who as London Health and Social Care lead for the Mayor's London Living Wage group has helped to increase the number of NHS Trusts paying the living wage from eight in 2021 to 24 in 2025. This has led to thousands of London’s lowest paid workers having had their wages increased as a result. This isn’t just an economic issue; it’s a health issue. Fair pay reduces stress and improves wellbeing, and we remain committed to ensuring all NHS organisations in south London meet this standard.
Building Equitable Neighbourhoods: SLaM actively committed to supporting the development of equitable neighbourhoods through hyper-local community organising – working to put residents at the heart of decision-making and ensuring services reflect real needs. This work is in development and is going to be a central element of ensuring that the approach we’ve developed through South London Listens supports the NHS to deliver improved rive health outcomes at a local level.
Through my role as Chair of the South London Listens Taskforce, I have committed to convening a high-level advisory group of NHS and Local Authority Leaders across south London to encourage wider roll-out of community organising approaches in policy and service development.
As this Assembly showed, what began as an urgent response to the Covid-19, has built into a powerful movement. And it is one that proves health equity isn’t achieved in boardrooms alone. It happens when institutions like SLaM share power, listen deeply, and act boldly alongside communities.
This matters to me personally - working with communities to improve population health is has been a passion of mine, throughout my career, and I believe collaboration and partnerships can truly drive transformational change. In today’s challenging world, better outcomes only come when we unite our effort
As the NHS shifts towards neighbourhood working and prevention, partnerships like South London Listens are not optional – they are essential. To echo a core message on the night, they remind us that in a world of mounting fear, we are the voices building hope.
