Feedback sought on NHS neighbourhood proposals

By Priya Mistry

THE NHS have urged local residents to share their views regarding proposals to create a total of twenty-four neighbourhood areas across Hampshire, which will help deliver care closer to home including for those in Gosport and Fareham.

It comes after NHS Hampshire & Isle of Wight proposed areas within the county where services can be planned around the needs of local communities. These proposals have been drawn up after working closely with Hampshire County Council public health teams and is part of an ongoing conversation with district and borough local authorities alongside health partners in the region.

The geographies have been created by considering age of the population, levels of health need, long-term conditions and how services can work together to improve health outcomes. This approach would also involve closer working with organisations including local councils, police, and the voluntary sector.

James Roach, Director of Primary Care and Local Care for NHS Hampshire & Isle of Wight, said about the proposals released recently: “The aim of neighbourhood health is exactly that – providing health and care services within local communities and delivering more care closer to home.

“As part of this, we have identified 24 areas across Hampshire that share certain characteristics. This means services can be tailored to better reflect the needs of people living in those communities. “We’re now asking people in Hampshire for their views to see whether these proposed areas reflect their communities, or whether any adjustments are needed.”

Neighbourhood health forms part of the government’s National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP), which aims to shift more care from hospitals into community settings.  In turn it is hoped that this will reduce demand in hospitals and also mean that patients don’t have to travel too far for treatment, unless absolutely essential.

The survey is open to people living in Hampshire and it features a total of eight questions alongside a short section entitled ‘About You’. Residents should expect this to take around eight to ten minutes to complete online here and they can do this before the closing date of March 30 (Monday). However this survey does exclude those living in all of Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight, which will have their own neighbourhood health areas.

PICTURED BY NHS HAMPSHIRE & ISLE OF WIGHT: Residents across the region are being encouraged to share their views on proposals before the end of March through an online survey.