Cheshire East Health and Wellbeing Board

Our vision

Cheshire East Health and Wellbeing Board will work together to make a positive difference to people’s lives through a partnership that understands and responds to the needs of the population now and in the future. The board will do this by:

engaging effectively with the public
enabling people to be happier, healthier, and independent for longer
supporting people to take personal responsibility and make good lifestyle choices
achieving evidence-based outcomes within a holistic vision of health and wellbeing

Local authorities were invited to become ‘early implementer’ sites for the development of Health and Wellbeing Boards in January 2011. Cheshire East was successful in achieving ‘early implementer’ status in March 2011.

The Health and Wellbeing Board provides vision and a coordinated drive to address the health and wellbeing needs of the local population in Cheshire East, to reduce unacceptable and avoidable variations in health and healthcare.

Health and Wellbeing Boards are intended to act as the ‘glue’ between the NHS bodies (Clinical Commissioning Groups, Providers, NHS Commissioning Board and others) local authorities and other agencies (Police, Fire, 3rd Sector) and give local people greater say in how care is provided - improving local democratic accountability for local decisions about commissioned services.

Principles of the Health and Well Being Board

Equality and fairness

Provision of services should meet need, reduce health outcome variations, and be targeted to areas which need them the most.

Accessibility

Services should be accessible to all, with factors including geography, opening hours and access for disabled people and other vulnerable groups considered.

Integration

We jointly commission services that fit around the needs of residents and patients, encouraging providers to collaborate to create integrated services where appropriate. This will maximise the benefits of delivery through the Health and Wellbeing Board.

Quality

The strategy is based on sound evidence and reasoning, and focus on quality, within our resources

Sustainability

Services are developed and delivered considering environmental sustainability and financial viability.

What the board does

Challenge

The big pressures on public services include rising demand, rising health treatment costs - and the state of public finances.

Plan services

With increasing pressures on public finances, it is the job of the board to work together to plan services that meet the needs of local people, while achieving best value for money.

Joint Strategic Needs Assessments JSNA They look at the evidence of what works best to help target plans and resources. They are responsible for making sure that the local JSNA is written and that plans for services are based on this (the JSNA is a piece of research that every local authority has to undertake, which ‘tells the story’ of local people’s needs).

Joint health and wellbeing strategy

They are responsible for developing a local ‘Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy’, based on their JSNA. The Board need to make sure that local services are in line with the Joint Health and Wellbeing strategy (PDF, 7MB).

Progress on the Health and Wellbeing Strategy outcomes are being monitored via the Cheshire East Joint Outcomes Framework.

Look at the big picture

The Board look at people's health and social care needs together, as well as taking into account the bigger picture - things like transport, housing, jobs and leisure - so that services help people stay healthy and independent.

Pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA)

The pharmaceutical needs assessment looks at the current provision of pharmaceutical services across Cheshire East and how well needs for pharmaceutical services are being met. Once the PNA has been finalised, NHS England is required to use it to consider applications to open a new pharmacy, move an existing pharmacy or to commission additional services from a pharmacy.

Under current regulations, Health and Wellbeing Boards are required to produce a PNA at least every three years. The current PNA for Cheshire East was published in September 2022.

What we do locally

Cheshire East Health and Wellbeing Board works together to make a positive difference to people’s lives through a partnership that understands and responds to the needs of the population now and in the future. The board do this by:

engaging effectively with the public
enabling people to be happier, healthier, and independent for longer
supporting people to take personal responsibility and make good lifestyle choices
achieving evidence-based outcomes within a holistic vision of health and wellbeing

Why we are doing it

The idea for Health and Wellbeing Boards came from the Health and Social Care Act (2012). The Act is part of the Government's plans to change health and social care services and the way they are commissioned. Some of the Bill’s key plans included giving clinicians, such as GP’s, responsibility for commissioning health services, and strengthening ‘local accountability’ – for which Health and Wellbeing Boards have a crucial role and responsibility.

Taking on board what the community says

Healthwatch is the voice of the public and has a place on the board

Annual reports of the Director of Public Health

Director of Public Heath Annual Reports

Health and Wellbeing Board meetings

Page last reviewed: 23 October 2024