Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Nottinghamshire (with a nod to the Dalai Lama)

Out for consultation until Sept 26th

Have your say…..

  • What is “health and wellbeing”?
  • Why is it important? (What did the Dalai Lama say?)
  • What’s being consulted on?
  • What is Healthwatch Nottinghamshire’s role?

What is “health and wellbeing”?

It’s well put in the opening lines of Nottinghamshire’s draft strategy:

“Health is often stated as being an absence of illness or disability.  However, health and wellbeing recognises that a person’s overall feeling of “wellness” includes a sense of physical, mental and social wellbeing and therefore, takes a much wider view of what effects a person’s life experience”

So, health and wellbeing is no longer just about illness, hospitals, doctors, nurses and therapists. The Nottinghamshire strategy takes a much wider view. For example priority 7 (N.B. this is my numbering, they’re not numbered in the draft!) is about safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults from abuse.  Another example is priority 9, concerned with improving the quality and affordability of housing in the County – a pretty crucial determinant of health and wellbeing. But this is a Council function and not contained in NHS budgets!

That is where this strategy is different – to be effective it is going to have to cut across different organisations’ individual plans and priorities. This is going to challenge the instinctive reluctance of Health, Councils and the other major agencies to leave their organisational silos. This may prove to be particularly difficult at a time when their budgets are under pressure as never before.  So is it going to be a “close down the hatches” reaction for 2013-15 or, alternatively, can we set out for the more uncharted waters of, as the Cllr Bosnjak, Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board, describes it:

“The common purpose to work across health, social care and wider communities to improve health and wellbeing opportunities for all”.

Success is going to depend on close working between local government, the NHS, the community and voluntary sector, and independent organisations.


Why is it important?

The Dalai Llama spent a week in Nottinghamshire in 2008 where he was warmly welcomed by County Councillors.  It was a sight to behold: The leader of Tibetan Buddhism strolling down the river Trent Embankment in his red monkish robes with, on each side of him, and his arm firmly through each of their arms, the two women who were then local democratic leaders of Nottinghamshire County Council – Cllr Joan Taylor (Chair) and the Vice Chair, Cllr Ellie Lodziak. The contentment on the Councillors’ faces was palpable.

The Dalai Lama has an interesting take on how we are doing in the West in terms of wellbeing. This is taken from his piece called, “The Paradox of our Age”:

“We have:

More conveniences, but less time;

We have degrees but less sense;

More knowledge but less judgement;

More experts, but more problems;

More medicine, but less healthiness.

We’ve been to the moon and back

But have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbour”

 Everyone in Nottinghamshire should be able to enjoy good health and wellbeing but we all know from experience, and it is evidenced in the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA), that some groups and communities in the County experience poorer health and wellbeing than others.  The strategy, if it is to be effective, needs to make an impact on these inequalities by placing an emphasis on the most vulnerable and those who have the poorest health.

What’s being consulted on?

There are 3 themes or principles in the strategy:

  • Prevention and early intervention
  • Supporting independence
  • Promoting integration across partners

Under those three there are 16 priorities (you can find what they are at http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/caring/yourhealth/developing-health-services/health-and-wellbeing-board/strategy/)

Do you agree with these 3 underlying themes that shape the overall strategy?
Is there anything in there that you don’t think should be a priority, or there is an area of health and wellbeing that you think has been missed?

These are the ways you can feedback to the planners of the strategy:

15 August 2013 (10am) at Retford Town Hall
9 September 2013 (10am) Richard Herrod Centre
10 September 2013 (6pm) Rushcliffe Arena
12 September 2013 (6pm) Ashfield Summit Centre
13 September 2013 (2pm) Bridge Community Centre, Newark

(Please book your place via joanne.stewardson@nottscc.gov.uk or 01623 433007)

What is Healthwatch Nottinghamshire’s role?

The strategy is important for Nottinghamshire people because it will influence commissioning decisions about services of the NHS, local government and social care from now all the way up to 2016.  We expect this Nottinghamshire strategy to be a “living document”, i.e. it is likely to develop and evolve over time.  We want the views of consumers coming into Healthwatch Nottinghamshire to contribute to the implementation of this strategy.

Healthwatch sits on the Health and Wellbeing Board, the “overseer” of this strategy. Healthwatch Nottinghamshire will exercise its responsibility on the Board by, amongst other things, keeping an eye on what patients, users and carers are saying about the services that sit under these 16 priorities.  Where necessary Healthwatch will make recommendations to the Board, or to health and social care commissioners, for changes or improvements to those services.

As part of our ongoing support to the strategy, Healthwatch will be attending all of the consultation events listed above. If you have something to say or simply want to learn more, come along and speak to us at one of the events or phone us on 0115 963 5179 and we’ll feed your views into the consultation process.

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