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JSNA

The duty to undertake JSNA is set out in Section 116 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. 

 

Healthy lives, Healthy People: Our Strategy for Public Health in England states, GP consortia and local authorities, including Directors of Public Health, will each have an equal and explicit obligation to prepare the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA), and to do so through the arrangements made by the Health and Wellbeing Board. It is expected that the Health and Wellbeing boards will develop joint health and wellbeing strategies, based on the assessment of need outlined in their JSNA.

 

The JSNA can be described as an umbrella under which there a number of supporting needs assessments which help to shape the key priorities and recommendations. Combining everything into one document will make the JSNA too large to be effective as a commissioning tool.

 

Therefore the approach taken in Kent is to provide a summary of all recommendations and priorities identified within existing and emerging needs assessments for Kent. 

 

Recent guidance 'Joint Strategic Needs Assessment: A Spring Board for Action' highlights best practice and its accompanying paper 'Joint Strategic Needs Assessment: Data inventory' published by the Local Government Improvement Agency, make suggestions for indicators and data items that the 'Health and Well Being Boards' may want to consider when writing the JSNA. The Data Inventory supercedes and expands on the JSNA Core Data Set published by the DH in 2008.

 

Health and Social Care Maps are district profiles which encompass a number of indicators around key themes, such as older people and children. These have been developed locally to support the JSNA. 

 

This website presents detailed summaries of needs assessments by population group and disease headings. Click on the arrows in the banner headings below to expand the list. 

 

Key recommendations and priorities for action have been pulled together in the JSNA for Kent 2012: Working together to Keep Kent Healthy.  The JSNA will influence the Health and Well Being strategy. 

All of the sections of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment need to be read with an awareness of inequalities of health.

 

Inequalities in health describes the systematic differences in health associated with people’s different and unequal positions in society. This concept links the health of individuals to the structures of social inequality which shape their lives. Outside of the UK, health inequalities are more accurately described as social inequity. Health inequalities are often referred to as the social determinants of health or the causes of the causes.

 

Whilst factors such as biological or genetic disposition are important, social inequalities are the key driver of ill health. Factors such as employment, education, housing, transport, leisure, neighbourhood renewal, child poverty, fuel poverty, food poverty and crime and disorder all make a significant contribution to health and wellbeing. The NHS therefore largely addresses the consequences of inequalities in health manifesting themselves in disease. 

 

This is why partnership working particularly through the leadership of local government, tackling the social determinants of health is vital to reducing health inequality.

 

 

Within Kent traditionally there has been a separate JSNA for children and adults. This section presents the chapters and themes from the Children's JSNA 2011. Other relevant strategic documents include the Children and Young People's Plan and the Children's Toolkit

  

Quality Innovation Prevention Productivity

  • The current economic situation requires NHS in Kent and Medway to deliver improved quality of care and productivity as per the Next Stage Review (NSR) Vision over the next five years.

  • The total projected funding gap is £686m across K&M over the next five years (£270m in West Kent, £303m in East Kent) and with expected increases in both cost base and demand from our population. 

  • Three areas of savings have been identified:

  • Service improvement initiatives. e.g. pathway optimisation, to drive efficiency through commissioning expenditure

  • Commissioning lever initiatives to drive up quality and productivity gains e.g. through utilising to full effect contract levers and system management opportunities, PbR tariffs and  primary care contracting

  • Transformational change initiatives at the whole system level e.g. prevention, self care, care closer to home, to deliver more effective and efficient services

  • The following work streams have been identified for joint working and where needs assessments maybe required for their potential further development: