Health in Southampton 2008
Report from the Public Health Director for Southampton
My annual report for 2008 has been written during the 60th anniversary year for the NHS, which has seen an acceleration in the implementation of measures designed to deliver better health for our community. A new NHS constitution1 has been proposed that stresses the fact that our NHS belongs to the people. It is there to improve our health, supporting us to keep mentally and physically well, get better when we are ill and, when we cannot recover, stay as well as we can. The proposed constitution sets out how we all can play our part.
Southampton City Council, Southampton Primary Care Trust (PCT) and members of the public in Southampton have certainly made a huge effort to identify the health and social care needs of our community this year and we have just published our first Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA)2 Therefore this is my first Annual Public Health Report to be informed by a JSNA which has given local people and partners a say in the strategic development of health care in Southampton. The JSNA was developed alongside the South East England Health Strategy3 and Lord Darzi's review4 .
The South East England Health Strategy seeks to enable our region to become one of the healthiest regions in Europe. The aim is to promote physical, emotional and mental health and well-being, to improve healthy life expectancy and to reduce inequalities. My report shows how we are trying to achieve these aims here in Southampton.
Lord Darzi’s review of the NHS focused on improving quality, safety and access to health services as well improving health and well-being for all. In order to deliver these improved services in our area, South Central Strategic Health Authority have produced an ambitious ten year vision5 . The vision recognises the need to improve services for children and young people in several respects and also the need to improve the quality of care for adults and older people including end of life care. The Strategic Health Authority will be supporting Southampton City PCT to become a world class commissioner of high quality services which will deliver the necessary improvements.
The JSNA was developed alongside the Darzi review and the regional health strategy which will be informing our strategic commissioning plan and key delivery partnership work plans for the coming year. The challenge will be for all the health partners to focus on delivering key priorities which have emerged from the strategic analysis in order to achieve the health improvements in Southampton we now know are within our grasp.
I hope my annual report will be of help to all those engaged in taking up the challenge.
Dr Andrew Mortimore
Director of Public Health
December 2008
