Council seeks views on proposed new prevention service

Shropshire Council is appealing for more organisations and individuals to give their views on a proposed new preventive health service.

The council currently commissions a range of programmes to prevent ill health, such as NHS Health Checks, Help2Quit, and Help2Slim.  It is proposing to bring these together by creating a social enterprise called Help2Change, within the council-owned provider organisation ip&e Limited.

ip&e provides public services on the council’s behalf and enables the council to reinvest any profit back into services.  The proposals are for Help2Change to be structured as a non-profit distributing subsidiary of ip&e, which means that any profit made is reinvested directly into public health and, in turn, helping people lead healthier lives.

Help2Change would then work closely with partner organisations, including GPs, pharmacists, ShropDoc, community and voluntary groups, businesses, hospitals and NHS community trusts, to deliver services that are convenient, accessible and designed around the needs of local people.

Karen Calder, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for health, said:

“Shropshire Council is committed in its aim to prevent long-term illness, improve quality of life and reduce inequalities in health.  From quitting smoking to getting active, we want to ensure people have the support they need to live a healthy life.

“Not only will this new and innovative approach offer residents a more holistic and ‘joined up’ service, but it will also make for a more efficient use of public funds.

“However, for this new way of working to be successful, we really need the views of our partners and residents.  I would encourage anyone with a commitment to improve the health of Shropshire residents to take part in this consultation.”

Dr Kevin Lewis, Director of Preventive Health Programmes, added:

“This new structure will allow us to work more closely with local residents, businesses and partners to develop services focused on keeping people well.  We have a wealth of preventive health expertise to build on in Shropshire, and ambitious plans to improve services for the public.

“This is a chance to think differently, work more effectively with partners, bring in more funds for the people of Shropshire and be more responsive to their needs.”

It is proposed that Help2Change would provide a ‘single point of access’ (eg via telephone and Internet) to a suite of services that help people to improve their health and well-being. These services would be flexible (including ‘out of office hours’), accessible and delivered in a wide range of different venues and locations.  These would be services aimed at keeping people well, improving their well-being and preventing illness.  They would also be designed to help individuals manage any longstanding illnesses they suffer from, so as to minimise the extent to which their quality of life is affected.

To take part in the consultation click on the link here.

Deadline for submissions is Friday 15 August 2014.

For more information on public health initiatives go to www.healthyshropshire.co.uk.

Further information

Shropshire Council has been responsible for commissioning preventive health services since April 2013 as part of the wider transfer of public health work previously undertaken by Shropshire County Primary Care Trust and other NHS trusts.

The development of a proposal to bring together initiatives that support people to live long and healthy lives into one company, as part of the Shropshire-Council owned organisation ip&e, was agreed by councilors on 9 April 2014.

It is proposed that services initially transferred to Help2Change will include:

• NHS Health Check –  a free medical check offered to people aged 40-74
• Help2Quit – a free stop-smoking service
• Help2Slim – a free service to help people lose weight
• Active4Health – resources and activities to help people become more physically active
• DrinkSafe – an alcohol brief advice service.