People living in the most deprived communities across the country are set to benefit from new neighbourhood health services as the government takes the first steps in the roll-out, this week, making care more convenient and reducing health inequalities.
Central to the 10 Year Health Plan, the services will bring NHS care closer to home and provide better support for people with complex conditions, keeping them well and avoiding unnecessary hospital trips.
One example is Team Up Derbyshire, an initiative which links up GPs, social workers, home carers and nurses to support people who need care in their own homes - bringing the best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS.
The government has hit the ground running on delivering the plan, writing to health chiefs and local authority chief executives, urging them to team up with local health and care providers, voluntary groups and members of their communities to accelerate the rollout of the services across the country. They have been asked to submit applications, outlining examples of joined-up working and innovation in their areas, to join phase 1 of the neighbourhood health programme.
This will prepare local partnerships to take on responsibility for more neighbourhood services in their area. It will see successful applicants join an intensive national coaching programme over the summer, including major workshop days that bring together experts, GPs and their teams, patients, the voluntary sector and local authorities.
Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, said: "Our 10 Year Health Plan committed to building a Neighbourhood Health Service, and we’re hitting the ground running on delivering it. If we are to get patients cared for faster, on their doorstep and even in their own home, then we need to shift the focus of the NHS from hospitals to the community. We are issuing an open invitation to local authorities and health services to become pioneer neighbourhood health services and lead the charge of healthcare reform.
"As part of our Plan for Change, we’re beginning the Neighbourhood Health Service in areas of greatest need first, to tackle the unfair health inequalities that blight our country."
From September, the first 42 sites will then immediately start rolling out their neighbourhood health programmes, with clear guidance, support and metrics to report on regularly.
The department and NHS England will work with over 40 places across the country and ensure each region is covered by the programme. The services will be prioritised in working-class areas where healthy life expectancy is lowest, targeting communities with the greatest need first.
Neighbourhood health services will bring together teams of professionals to focus on patients with multiple long-term conditions and people with complex needs. A joint taskforce has been set up between the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to drive progress, chaired by Sir John Oldham and made up of NHS leaders, local authority bosses, and other key figures from the voluntary sector and health and care organisations.
In addition to the neighbourhood health services that will begin in September, the government is also working to deliver neighbourhood health centres across the country over the course of the government’s 10 Year Health Plan to rebuild the NHS.
Pioneering teams - some based entirely under one roof - will be set up in local communities to dramatically improve access to the health service, and will include staff like nurses, doctors, social care workers, pharmacists, health visitors, palliative care staff and paramedics. Community health workers and volunteers will also play a pivotal role in these teams.
Millions of patients will be treated and cared for by teams of health professionals, and in years to come, local neighbourhood health centres will relieve pressure on overstretched hospitals and provide cutting-edge, personalised care.
Eventually these health centres will be open 12 hours a day, 6 days a week within local communities, and will not only bring historically hospital-based services into the community - diagnostics, post-operative care and rehab - but will also offer services like debt advice, employment support and stop smoking or weight management, all of which will help tackle issues which we know affect people’s health.
Responding to the announcement of the roll-out of the government’s first neighbourhood health service, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said:
“Nursing staff were identified in the government's ten year health plan as the expert leaders needed to deliver a neighbourhood health service. This shift to the community will be vital in ending the unsustainable pressures on emergency departments and the unacceptable practice of corridor care. We stand ready to deliver this change.
"As the professionals delivering the vast majority of care, we know what keeps patients safe and well and it's right that our skills and leadership are recognised. To make this a reality, the secretary of state must produce a detailed and fully funded plan to grow our registered nurse workforce, especially in crucial community roles.”
