The Department of Health and Social Care has selected six neighbourhood health projects to act as “trailblazers” in the redesign of health and care services, backed by £1.5 million from the Office for the Impact Economy and in partnership with Macmillan.
The six sites chosen will act as test beds for the development of new neighbourhood health models, bringing together NHS services, councils, community organisations, and local people in a bid to improve outcomes and tackle inequalities, DHSC shares.
Projects include Bristol NHS Foundation Trust’s 1,000 days neighbourhood model, using population health data and community networks to improve end-of-life care and support individuals with frailty and multiple conditions outside of hospital settings.
Lewisham Health and Care Partnership and Healthier Greenwich Partnership will reportedly work on an integrated neighbourhood model incorporating cancer, end-of-life care, frailty, and long term conditions, using existing integrated neighbourhood teams and making cancer “a more explicit focus”.
Navigo Health and Social Care CIC will work on a Proactive Neighbourhood Care and Coordination Service bringing together primary care, community services, mental health, and social care to support those with complex needs. A project from York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will focus on the use of proactive identification and geriatric assessment to help older people remain at home.
RM Partners and NCL NHS Cancer Alliance will establish a large-scale neighbourhood cancer prehabilitation and rehabilitation support offer across 19 London boroughs; and North Nottinghamshire Partnership, led by Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, will oversee a scaled neighbourhood model featuring a proactive approach to care for those with severe frailty, cancer, and multiple long-term conditions.
According to DHSC, Macmillan will be investing £250 million in neighbourhood health over the next three-to-five years. Gemma Peters, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “These sites will lead the way in showing what is possible. Macmillan is proud to be a cornerstone investor, helping to unlock investment from others and to bring our expertise in reshaping healthcare. But this is the start of a journey. We want to see more investors backing neighbourhood health, with government investors and local partners working together to create the conditions for new approaches to grow and spread, so more people can benefit from connected, personalised care closer to home.”
Wider trend: Neighbourhood health
NHS England sought feedback earlier this year on its proposed contracting models for multi-neighbourhood provider (MNP) and single neighbourhood provider (SNP) contracts, aiming to promote joined up services, improve health and outcomes, better organise services around local population needs, and outline clearer responsibility for services or pathways.
Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust has highlighted how it is testing new approaches to neighbourhood health, sharing progress and findings from pioneer sites, covering reactive, proactive and preventative care. The first pilot approach for reactive care is taking place in Folkestone, Hythe and Rural PCN, where a new neighbourhood health team is reportedly testing a more joined-up approach for those with frailty and complex needs. According to the trust, it involves offering frail and housebound patients access to hospital-level care, with aims to reduce unnecessary admissions.
Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust has published a plan of action for population health and neighbourhood infrastructure, outlining a shared outcomes framework to support collective leadership, along with four proposed neighbourhood health aims aligned with the National Neighbourhood Health Framework. Sharing an ambition to develop neighbourhood infrastructure as a strategic capability and provide the foundations for integrated working at place level, the trust looks to establish a consistent integrated neighbourhood model across all places, using population health management to reduce inequalities and improve outcomes, and optimise care pathways to be person-centred, proactive, and neighbourhood-based.
