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Ambition 1 Helping our people live healthier and more independent lives

We know health and wellbeing is essential for everyone and helps our County to grow and flourish. But people's health and wellbeing varies across Nottinghamshire.

Those in our most disadvantaged areas have lives which are on average 7.5 years shorter than people in our least disadvantaged areas. As well as living lives which are shorter, they will also spend 14 years more living in poor health. Some of our population are particularly affected. Women in our most disadvantaged communities can expect to live on average one third of their lives in poor health.

Access to health and care services is important but only forms a small part of our health and wellbeing. Factors like housing, employment, education, food, transport, air quality and community networks play a big role. These are also areas where our residents experience inequalities. That's why we'll work alongside other organisations to make sure the places we grow, live and work improve health and wellbeing for all — especially in those areas where the need is greatest.  But we’ll also improve our services, so they have the biggest impact for local people. Our ambition is that people in every community enjoy healthier, happier lives and remain independent for longer.

The Big Notts Survey

  • 2 in 5 (41%) people named their own or others’ mental health as one of their top concerns during the pandemic. This remains a top concern for the near future.
  • Over 1 in 4 (27%) said good health was their top goal over the next 10 years, with this rising to 1 in 2 (52%) for the over 65s. 

Over the next four years we will:

We’ll ensure that the environment we grow, live, work and age in promotes good health and wellbeing. We’ll use the planning and transport system, along with economic planning, licensing and policy decisions, to create places that do this. This will also help to reduce health inequalities and benefit the environment, for a better quality of life.

We will deliver our Best Start Strategy [PDF], so that all children in Nottinghamshire, wherever they live, grow up to enjoy the best health possible, are protected from harm, and have access to education that enables them to reach their potential and boost their future life chances.  

We’ll work with partners to improve emotional and mental health in Nottinghamshire, recognising the extra strain caused by the pandemic and the challenges faced by young people and people with additional needs.

We will:

  • use our influence and powers to ensure the places in which we grow, live and work promote good health
  • make it easier for people to access the right mental health and wellbeing support at the right time
  • coordinate support with our partners through our shared Mental Health Strategy [PDF] and work together to prevent suicide
  • develop and continue to improve services specifically for children and young people through Integrated Commissioning
  • expand the Nottalone website, which supports children, young people, parents, carers and professionals
  • offer people with long term social care, mental health needs, learning disability and autism, timely support closer to home
  • ensure relevant staff are properly trained in supporting people’s mental and emotional health.

We’ll provide services that support people in improving their health and wellbeing. These will address the biggest causes of ill-health – smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity, being overweight, harmful alcohol use and substance misuse.  While these will improve the health and wellbeing of everyone in Nottinghamshire, we’ll focus on where the need is greatest. We’ll also address the social and environmental factors that cause differences in people’s health. Finally, we’ll support other organisations to deliver services which better prevent poor health, loss of independence and unnecessary hospital stays.

We’ll work with people to enable them to live healthy and independent lives and support  people to find their independence and confidence again after a time of ill-health.  We’ll take a personalised approach to finding the right care and support for individuals and act early to prevent more costly and intrusive care later on.  With the help of our health colleagues, new local area coordinators and local community resources, we’ll talk to people about their strengths, assets and skills, and support them to live the best life they can.  And, when people need it, we’ll offer a range of care opportunities, close to where they live.  

We’ll use Council land to supply new homes that meet the needs of people of all abilities in Nottinghamshire and help them to live independently.

We’ll work with partners to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions and help people to return home as soon as they are well.

We’ll also work in partnership with the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care System to deliver the proposals outlined in the Health and Care Bill 2021. This will help us deliver more joined-up services, so care is better allocated and health and care professionals can work together more easily, which in turn will prevent poor health and benefit people's wellbeing.

We’ll work in partnership to ensure there are good arrangements to protect people from outbreaks of infectious diseases and non-infectious environmental hazards, focusing on protecting those most at risk of harm. We’ll also continue to deliver Nottinghamshire’s COVID-19 Local Outbreak Management Plan [PDF].

Success means:

  • People live more years in good health
  • Increased life expectancy in areas with the biggest inequalities
  • People are happier and have reduced anxiety
  • More people living independently in their local community.

In 2023-24, to achieve this, we will deliver the following actions:

Implement mental health reform to include more comprehensive mental health provision across all services/stakeholders, with an emphasis on preventative intervention. We will also work with partners, as a signatory of the Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health, to develop communication campaigns to promote mental wellbeing, including suicide prevention and awareness, reducing stigma and signposting to support.

Work with partners to deliver on the final year of the Wave 4 Suicide Prevention transformation programme, with a particular focus on at-risk groups, so that suicide prevention interventions such as training, communications and awareness raising, and support, can be appropriately targeted towards those groups at increased risk of suicide and self-harm.

Implement the Carers and Young Carers Strategy, to provide timely intervention in the right place at the right time. This will help ensure that carers are supported to care and support their loved ones, that they have access to advice, guidance and signposting and that less crisis intervention is required.

Work with partners across the Integrated Care System regarding prevention, equity and integration, to support delivery of the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Strategy 2023-2027. This will include development of the Making Every Contact Count Framework, reviewing our prevention approach, priority work on alcohol, tobacco and mental health, and further developing the Council’s role as an anchor institution.

Work with partners to deliver the Nottinghamshire Combating Substance Misuse Partnership Local Strategy and Delivery Plan. Through this, the harmful individual, family and community effects of substance misuse will be reduced, using a trauma-informed approach for those requiring treatment and recovery services.

Deliver on the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Tobacco Alliance plan. We will also work with schools to deliver INTENT, a smoking prevention programme, across secondary schools across the County which has been shown to reduce smoking uptake among young people.

Commission an Integrated Sexual Health Service, to start in April 2024, so that local residents will be able to access high quality and timely sexual health services, to reduce unplanned pregnancy and onward transmission of sexually transmitted infection.

Continue to embed strengths-based approaches in our Adults Social Care services, working with people to prevent, reduce and delay needs emerging and escalating, providing reablement services where people have experienced a crisis in their lives (for example, a period of time in hospital or care) and supporting people to live independent lives.

Work with the local District and Borough Councils and adopt a joint Housing Strategy to create healthy and sustainable places, meet housing needs in Nottinghamshire and ensure that people can live and age well in their own homes. This strategy will also focus on how we work together to provide safe homes for the most vulnerable in our communities.

Work with partners to publish the County’s ‘best start for life’ offer for prospective parents, expectant parents and for families with children up to their first 1,001 Days. This will ensure that parents and carers are supported to provide a healthy and nurturing environment, so that children are able to thrive and develop with their families.

Continue to work positively with partners through the Integrated Care Board and the wider integrated care system (ICS), so that we maximise all opportunities to deliver and commission services collaboratively (for example, joint work to develop residential homes for young people with serious mental health conditions and behavioural concerns and approval and implementation of a joint commissioning delivery plan for children and young people).

To find out more about what we’ve got planned for the current year, you can read our full Annual Delivery Plan 2023-2024 [PDF].

 

Our other ambitions

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