The Bath and North East Somerset Health and Wellbeing Board is to welcome a draft five year plan for how local health and care services will be provided across the area.
These plans will drive the direction of local health care provision in Bath and North East Somerset, supported by the NHS B&NES Clinical Commissioning Group’s Better Care Fund.
The Health and Wellbeing Board will be considering how these plans align to their local understanding of needs and priority issues when it meets on Wednesday 26th March.
Dr Ian Orpen, Chair of the B&NES NHS Clinical Commissioning Group and Vice Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board, said: “Producing a five year plan allows us to be innovative and brave, to identify the areas we want to prioritise now and in the future.
“Over the past few months, we have been engaging and collaborating with all our key providers of health and social care, patients and the public to produce a shared vision for the future of health and wellbeing in Bath and North East Somerset. I’m looking forward to updating the Board on the progress we have made in a short space of time.”
The Health and Wellbeing Board will consider the future of local health and care services, following a recent review, led by the Local Government Association, of health and wellbeing service provision in the area.
This peer review found a strong and positive commitment from services to improving the health of local people.
Cllr Simon Allen (Lib-Dem, Radstock), Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board and Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Cabinet Member for Wellbeing, said: “The peer challenge has been an extremely valuable process for us locally. The feedback we received was positive but also highlighted areas on which we can improve; we’re excited to now take this learning and apply it as we move through 2014 to provide even better services for local people.”
The Board will receive a presentation from the RUH Bath on the steps it has taken towards improvement following its latest inspection by the Care Quality Commission.
A video made by service users from the recent ‘What Works’ Mental Health Conference will also be shown at the meeting.
The film celebrates the coming together of organisations and stakeholders to explore the support available for people affected by mental health in Bath and North East Somerset.
Members of the public are welcome to attend the Health and Wellbeing Board meeting, which takes place on Wednesday 26th March (10am-12noon) in the Brunswick Room, Guildhall, Bath.
People are also encouraged to watch the meeting online through a live webcast as well as get involved and pose a related question directly to the Health and Wellbeing Board ahead of the meeting via the Council’s Twitter feed @bathnes using the hashtag #HWB.
