Sustainability and Transformation Plans for Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and North Durham
Health and social care organisations across Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and North Durham have developed an ambitious draft plan to improve the health and well being of the 1.7m people living in the area.
The draft plan is one of 44 such plans being developed across the country in response to NHS England’s Five Year Forward View (5YFV), a national plan that set out a vision for a better NHS. The sustainability and transformation plan (STP) for Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and North Durham describes an approach to how the vision of the 5YFV could be delivered locally by 2021.
It sets out proposals to:
- Improve health inequalities
- Ensure safe and sustainable local health and care services
- Fill a funding gap that could be as large as £641m by 2021
The STP is built on lots of work that has already begun across the area and it sets out proposals, which if taken forward, would mean that by 2021:
- The health inequalities in the area will be reduced to be comparable to the rest of the country
- The area will have thriving out of hospital services that attract and retain the staff they need to best support their patients
- There will be high quality hospital and specialist care across the whole area, seven days a week
Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and North Durham has strong health and social care services and has seen the fastest increase in life expectancy in England in recent years. But the health and well being gap compared to other parts of the country remains stubbornly high and the STP describes how, if action isn’t taken to reduce that gap, then the burden on local services will be too high in the future for services to continue to be safe and sustainable.
The 5YFV identifies three main gaps – health and well being, care and quality, and funding – and the STP proposes to address those gaps locally by focusing on:
- Scaling up work on ill-health prevention and improving well being
- Improving the quality and experience of care by increasing collaboration between organisations that provide out of hospital care and making the best use of acute or hospital based services
- Closing the gap in local finances
The publication of the draft STP starts a programme of engagement that runs until the end of January 2017 to raise awareness of the proposals and listen to any ideas or concerns about the detail of the draft plan.
The outcomes from this phase of engagement will help to shape the next version of the STP, and any subsequent potential proposals to do any major changes to NHS services will be subject to a programme of formal public engagement and consultation in the future.
To find out more about drafts and to have your say on the STP click on the links below:
View an Easyread version of the Draft Sustainability and Transformation Plan.
Download a copy of the full draft STP. This is a technical document submitted on 21st October to NHS England, NHS Improvement and Public Health England
Download a copy of the draft STP public summary document – this document aims to aid the understanding the draft STP technical submission
Download a slide presentation based upon the public summary document – this aims to aid the understanding the draft STP technical submission
Download some frequently asked questions and answers – we will add to these as the engagement progresses
Feedback from Engagement
An initial engagement process on the current draft took place between 23rd November 2016 and Friday 20th January 2017 (for a period of 8 weeks). The feedback from this period of engagement will inform the next version of the STP. To read details of the engagement feedback please click on the links below:
Download the engagement report.
Download a slide presentation on the outcome of this engagement.
Download a media release regarding the engagement outcome.
How to give your views
No partner organisation has formally ‘signed off’ the draft plan because there is no requirement to do so. An engagement process will continue over the next several months.
Any future potential NHS service reconfigurations would still require their own case for change and formal consultation process in their local area in line with NHS statutory duties to engage and consult and other NHS policy guidance.
This offers a number of opportunities for local authorities, NHS organisations, community and voluntary sector organisations and other interest groups to consider the draft plans as they develop and for their views to inform the next stages.
We welcome views on the content of this draft STP
You can email us at NGCCG.STP-NTWNDfeedback@nhs.net.
Next steps
Once we have collected all views, we will publish a feedback report.
If you would like to be notified about opportunities to get involved to give your views on local NHS issues, sign up to My NHS.