How the Board operates

How the Health and Wellbeing Board operates.

Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA).

Health and wellbeing boards are under a duty to prepare a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA).

A JSNA is a process by which health and wellbeing board members review and describe the current and future health and wellbeing needs in their local area and make recommendations on how to improve health and wellbeing and reduce inequalities for all ages. The joint health and wellbeing strategy (JHWS) is based on this information, taking the important step from assessment to service planning and collectively addressing the underlying determinants of health and wellbeing. 

JSNA in detail 

Joint

It is a partnership between the statutory bodies, agencies, public and patient representatives who meet as the Health and Wellbeing Board.

Strategic

It looks across a broad timeframe both medium term (3 to 5 years) and the longer term (5 to 10 years).

Needs

It examines needs not wants or demands. Its focus is on the needs of the population rather than the needs of the individual. It’s further focus is on "relevant needs" - a "relevant" need is:

  • a need capable of being met to a significant extent by the local authority’s exercise of functions; and which could also be met or affected, to a significant extent, by the partner CCG or NHS England’s exercise of functions in Croydon; 
    or 
  • a need which is capable of being met to a significant extent by the partner CCG or NHS England’s exercise of functions in Croydon; and which could also be met or affected, to a significant extent by the local authority’s exercise of functions) 

Assessment

It attempts to assess needs and to place them in context.

Croydon Health & Wellbeing Strategy (Croydon’s JHWS) (2019-)

The Croydon Health and Wellbeing Strategy is a strategy for meeting the needs identified in JSNAs. In preparing the Croydon Health and Wellbeing Strategy, the health and wellbeing board has had regard to the Secretary of State’s mandate to NHS England which sets out the Government’s priorities for the NHS. The Croydon strategy explains what priorities the health and wellbeing board has set in order to tackle the needs identified in the JSNA.  It provides a framework for decision making and action by the Council and NHS bodies as well as their private and voluntary sector partners.

As the Needs Assessment and the Strategy is evidence based, decisions and actions of Commissioners should have regard to the JSNA and the Croydon Health and Wellbeing Strategy. One role of the HWB therefore is to ensure that commissioners Commissioning Plans are evidence based, in other words, based on the JSNA and the Croydon Health and Wellbeing Strategy. There would be no point in spending time and money assessing needs and setting out a strategy only for the commissioners to ignore them. 

The Law requires local authorities and CCGs, in exercising any functions and NHS England, in exercising its commissioning functions in relation to Croydon area, to have regard to any JSNA and Croydon Health and Wellbeing Strategy which is relevant to the exercise of those functions.  

What Does the JSNA in Croydon look like?


The Croydon JSNA is themed and split into five sections. 

  • Population overview: containing information regarding Croydon’s overall population and general health and wellbeing
  • Population groups: containing information regarding specific Croydon populations, such as particular demographics vulnerabilities or localities
  • Wider determinants: containing information regarding areas that can affect health and wellbeing such as education, the environment, housing and employment
  • Healthy behaviours: containing information regarding individual actions that affect health such as physical activity, sexual health, oral health, smoking, drinking and drug use 
  • Health conditions: containing information regarding specific diagnosed conditions such as cancer, diabetes and mental health

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