Health and Wellbeing Strategy

Health and Wellbeing boards were established under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to act as a forum in which key leaders from the local health and care system could work together to improve the health and wellbeing of their local population. They became fully operational on 1 April 2013 in all 152 local authorities with adult social care and public heath responsibilities.  They have a statutory duty, with clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), to produce a joint strategic needs assessment and a joint health and wellbeing strategy for their local population. The current members of the Portsmouth Health and Wellbeing Board include:

• Portsmouth City Council (including elected members and officers including the Director of Public Health)
• Portsmouth Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) – responsible for commissioning (or buying) a wide range of NHS services for people who live and work in the city of Portsmouth. Portsmouth CCG covers the whole city area, including Southsea. GP practices (or Doctor’s surgeries) are part of our services. For more details, please contact the Portsmouth CCG on (023) 9289 9500, at www.portsmouthccg.nhs.uk or at pccg.enquiries@nhs.net
• Healthwatch Portsmouth
• Portsmouth Hospitals University Trust
• Solent NHS Trust
• Age UK Portsmouth (on behalf of community and voluntary sector organisations)
• Hampshire Constabulary
• Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service
• National Probation Service
• University of Portsmouth
• Portsmouth Education Partnership

A Health and Wellbeing strategy identifies priorities for health and wellbeing for local populations and the approaches that will be taken to bring about improvements in these areas. Portsmouth’s previous strategy ran from 2018-21. This new strategy looks ahead at the next 5-10 years. It’s part of wider plans to develop the city, most notably Imagine Portsmouth 2040, the Blueprint for Health and Care in Portsmouth, and the developing priorities for Health and Care Portsmouth. It doesn’t include all the actions that need to be carried out. Instead, it highlights the key areas that the city should improve in the long-term. Organisations supporting health and wellbeing in local areas have to make sure that the work they do follows the Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

In developing a draft strategy for 2022-2030, the Health and Wellbeing Board have taken in to account:

• Evidence of health and wellbeing outcomes where Portsmouth is an outlier from the rest of the country
• Assessment of the underpinning issues that are driving poorer outcomes across a range of issues
• Other key local partnership and organisational plans, priorities and activity
• Latest relevant national guidance, strategies and plans
• Insight from local residents, communities and other key stakeholders.

The strategy will be an important document for health and care services in Portsmouth, as it will inform commissioning decisions (ie: what the council and CCG will pay for) and also influence decisions that are taken across wider city services, including education, development, housing, employment and community safety.

For the period 2022-2030, the priorities that have been identified are:

• Tackling poverty
• Improving educational attainment
• Positive relationships
• Housing
• Air quality and active travel

We want to know whether:

• we have identified the right priorities and challenges?
• there are opportunities for the Health and Wellbeing Board to better support work on these priorities and bring about change?
• there are examples of successful initiatives already happening that we should be building on?
• we can measure if we are making a change for the better?

The full draft document is published below, along  with an electronic survey where you can give your thoughts and opinions.

We know that not everyone is happy using electronic surveys.  If you don’t want to fill this in, then you can send your thoughts in writing to HWB Consultation, Third Floor, Civic Offices, Guildhall Square, Portsmouth, PO1 2AL by 21 January 2022.

Alternatively, Healthwatch Portsmouth can support residents who wish to make their own submission but may need some help doing so.  Please phone Healthwatch Portsmouth on (023) 9354 1510 or email:  info@healthwatchportsmouth.co.uk

We must receive your comments by 21 January 2022.

After 21 January, we will bring together all the results and consider what they mean for the draft strategy. Where we need to make changes to reflect consultation responses, we will do so. The final draft document will be presented to the Health and Wellbeing Board meeting in public on 9 February 2022 at 10am at the Civic offices, with the draft strategy available on our website before the meeting. Where agreed, the Board will then recommend that this is adopted by the council and the clinical commissioning group.

Click on the link to complete the survey.