Health and care organisations across Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Swindon and Wiltshire have today (15 November) released a summary of their Sustainability and Transformation Plan ahead of full publication in the coming weeks.
Overall, across B&NES, Swindon and Wiltshire (BSW) the standard of health and care services compare well to other areas of England. However, there are still improvements that need to be made to make sure services are the best they can be – and are sustainable now and in future years.
Their summary sets out our emerging priorities to improve health and care services for the 874,000 people who use our services. It proposes new ways of working together in order to meet the many challenges facing the health and care system and provides the framework within which detailed proposals for how services across B&NES, Wiltshire and Swindon will develop between now and 2020/21.
A key theme throughout the STP is an increased focus on preventing ill health and promoting peoples’ independence through the provision of more joined up services in or closer to peoples’ homes.
Five priority areas have been identified as key programmes of work:
- More focus on prevention of ill health and earlier intervention
- Transforming Primary Care
- Making best use of technology and our public estate
- A modern workforce
- Improved collaboration across our hospital trusts
James Scott, Senior Responsible Officer for the BSW STP, said, “The NHS and social care is currently under significant pressure and we know that demand on services will only continue to grow. Our STP summary sets out a strategic direction that will enable us to engage with our citizens, and those that care for them, to agree the steps we’re going to take to design services that meet this projected increase in demand with the resources we will have.”
He continued: “Our plan sets out the need to support people to stay healthier and independent longer. We need to reduce the duplication, variation and potential gaps between the various health and social care services to ensure a consistent service for those who need them. And we need to make better use of new technology to support people to monitor their own health and wellbeing with access to the right information and support. Our shared aim is to ensure that everyone can continue to receive excellent high quality care whenever they need it, both now and in the future.”
The BSW Sustainability and Transformation Plan summary is available to download at: www.wiltshireccg.nhs.uk
