Wiltshire Health and Wellbeing Strategy

Wiltshire’s Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) was introduced by the Health and Social Care Act 2012 which required that top tier authorities established a board by 2013. It is a partnership that brings together the leaders of the health and social care system. The board is required by legislation to deliver specific responsibilities:

• Produce a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA)
• Develop a Health and Wellbeing Strategy
• Encourage and enable integrated working between health and social care

What is a health and wellbeing strategy?

The Health and Wellbeing Strategy is a shared strategy, which aims to improve the health and wellbeing of the local population, reduce inequalities and promote the integration of services. It uses the analysis and data from the JSNA, to help identify and agree the key ambitions for our population which as a Health and Wellbeing Board we will work together to deliver. It does not list everything that all organisations will be doing to improve health and wellbeing. Instead it focuses on where the Health and Wellbeing Board can add value and sets out our vision for integrated working for the future.

Purpose of the strategy

The purpose of the strategy is to enable:

• All health and wellbeing partners to be clear about our agreed priorities for the next four years
• All members of the HWB to embed the priorities within their own organisations and ensure they are  reflected in their commissioning and delivery plans
• A joined-up approach towards commissioning to deliver against these priorities
• The HWB to hold organisations to account for their actions towards achieving the objectives and  priorities in the strategy

Development of the strategy

The role of Wiltshire's Health and Wellbeing Board is to lead on work to improve the health and   happiness of Wiltshire, specifically focusing on reducing health inequalities. It also considers the impact of health on the wider local authority and partnership agendas including housing, education, employment, crime,vulnerability and safeguarding. This strategy has been developed based upon the  evidence of need identified within the Health and Wellbeing JSNA. Areas for strategic change and development to meet the current and future needs of the population were identified through a number of workshops run for all Health and Wellbeing Board partners.