Have your say on the draft Health and Wellbeing Strategy

The Health and Wellbeing Board is there to ensure there is effective partnership working across the county to meet people’s health and social care needs and efficient use of resources to meet a set of identified priorities.

The Board has responsibility for promoting the health and wellbeing of the people of Oxfordshire and wants to gather views about the draft strategy from those people who live locally.

Dr Stephen Richards, Chief Executive of OCCG and Vice Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board said: “We really want to get your views on whether the priorities we have chosen are the right ones for the people of Oxfordshire and to let us know if there is anything else that we need to focus on. I am looking forward to closer collaboration between the public, the County Council and the local NHS as we work together to shape and improve health and social care services going forward.”

Councillor Arash Fatemian, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Services, added: “With increasing demand for health and social care services in Oxfordshire and with the national need for efficiencies, it is crucial that organisations work in partnership to deliver services more effectively. We hope as many people as possible will participate in the consultation and provide their views.”

The proposed priorities for the Health and Wellbeing Strategy were identified using evidence from the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) report, the views of people of Oxfordshire, health and social care professionals, the voluntary sector and other stakeholders.

These proposed priorities for the Health and Wellbeing Board 2012-16 are:

For Adults:

• Integration of health and social care
• Supporting older people to live independently with dignity whilst reducing the need for care and support through reablement services
• Living and working well

For Children and Young People:

• Keeping all children and young people safe
• Raising school achievement for all children and young people
• Narrowing the gap for our most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups
• Ensuring children have a healthy start in life and stay healthy into adulthood

For Health Improvement:

• Preventing early death and improving the quality of life in later years
• Preventing chronic disease through tackling obesity(unhealthy weight)
• Improving housing as poor/overcrowded housing is linked with poor health
• Preventing infectious disease through immunisation

To see the full strategy, attend a workshop, respond to the survey or give us your views, visit the consultation website or email talking.health@oxfordshirepct.nhs.uk