Author Archives: East Sussex Better Together

Get involved in Shaping Health and Care in your area!

Shaping Health Questions

Your views are central to how we build a local system that promotes and enables good physical and mental health; helps people to help themselves stay well; offers excellent treatment when they do require health or care services; and supports people and communities to thrive.

Our Shaping Health and Care events are your opportunity to come together with a diverse group of local people including patients, Patient Participation Group representatives, voluntary organisations, community groups and strategic partners to discuss how we can best meet the health needs of our local communities.

We are excited to announce our spring Shaping Health and Care events, which will be held in Seaford and Ore. Continue reading

Supporting local people’s mental health

Four mental health services have been funded in the East Sussex Better Together (ESBT) area from Southdown World Mental Health DayApril 2018 to work alongside the new East Sussex Community Network, which you may have read about in our March newsletter.

The services aim to tackle mental ill-health and improve community resilience by detecting and engaging mental health issues early and enabling people to develop recovery goals, self-manage and adapt healthier behaviours. This should mean that those using the services are prevented from reaching crisis point where they might need hospital admission.

Here we explain the latest offering from each service, and where you can find them. Continue reading

GPs discover ‘prescribing’ social activities helps improve the wellbeing of their patients

Coffee Cup HeartSome of the biggest impacts on health are made by things that happen outside of a consultation room. This is why a GP surgery in Herstmonceux has been working together with their local council to provide alternative services which improve quality of life for some of their older patients.

GP Dr John Simmons works at Herstmonceux Integrative Health Centre and was used to seeing a high number of elderly patients with a number of long term health conditions. Many were from rural, isolated areas and had needs that could be better met by services in the local community. Continue reading

Have your say on the savings proposals for Adult Social Care services

East Sussex County Council agreed its budget for 2018/19 at its meeting on 6 February. It will see the Council make savings of £17 million. This includes a budget reduction for Adult Social Care and Health of nearly £10 million.  Adult Social Care are asking for people’s views on how we are proposing to make the nearly £10 million in savings. What people tell us will help us to understand the impact and risks associated with our proposals. There may also be other ideas that we haven’t thought of.  If you use services that would be affected by the proposals you can speak to your provider or contact us. Frequently asked questions will be published on the website in March and before the consultation closes in April.  Have your say: www.eastsussex.gov.uk/ascsavings

Future-proofing our communities

On Friday 24th November 2017, young people from East Sussex Youth Cabinet, the Children in Care Council, disabled young people’s participation groups, local youth forums and school councils came together for Takeover Day to discuss community resilience.Takeover Day 2017

They key discussion point throughout the day was what makes a community strong, happy and healthy? Young people were encouraged to consider themselves as assets and discuss what they could contribute to community development. Attendees also learnt about the ‘Building Stronger Communities Fund’ and were given the opportunity to develop their own project ideas in small groups. Each group commented and advised on the other ideas and came up with 5 final projects, including a Junior Parliament for 7 to 11 year olds and an inclusive, cross-generational emotional support centre. Continue reading

Integrated Support Workers, the journey so far…

Integrated Support WorkersHave you heard of the Integrated Support Workers, or ISWs as they are commonly known?

The role is relatively new, having been created by East Sussex Better Together (ESBT) at the end of 2016, but it is rapidly evolving and expanding. In October 2017 the team were finalists for the East Sussex Healthcare Trust Unsung Hero Award for “working together to improve patient care”, demonstrating the positive impact they are already having on patient care.

We spoke with Magda Barker, Clinical Lead for the Integrated Support Worker Service to learn more about the valuable work of the service, and their next steps. Continue reading

Over 5600 nursery children are benefiting from an ambitious transformation programme to help tackle childhood obesity

1 in 5 children in East Sussex are overweight or obese by the time they start primary school, making them more likely to develop problems such as diabetes and heart disease earlier in life. As part of the Personal and Community Resilience (PRCR) work stream of ESBT we are seeking to create a step change in the way that the places where children spend their time support and promote health and wellbeing.  As part of this, the Nursery Transformation Programme launched in 2016 with a particular focus on tackling childhood obesity.

Funded by NHS Eastbourne, Hailsham and Seaford Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), NHS Hastings and Rother CCG and East Sussex Public Health, the programme aims to create a shift in recognition of the role of nurseries in improving health by enhancing their provision of healthy eating, physical activity and oral health. The programme complements a similar initiative working with schools and colleges, also led by East Sussex Public Health, and builds upon the success of the countywide Healthy Active Little Ones (HALO) – East Sussex pilot. Continue reading

Children and young people in Hastings to benefit from £6m to improve maths, literacy, mental health and employment skills

Hastings OA prioritiesHastings has been named as one of 12 Opportunity Areas (OAs) in the country. OAs have been identified by the Department of Education as social mobility ‘cold spots’ where outcomes for children and young people need to be improved. Social mobility is the breaking of the link between a child’s family background and where they get to in life, with their background and destination often measured by social class or income.

Each OA will receive a share of £72 million over three financial years to fund work that will improve social mobility for children and young people, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Community spirit, a thriving arts and culture scene and above average early years teaching provision were highlighted as strong positives in Hastings but the town ranked 299th out of 324 UK districts for chances that a child from a disadvantaged background would do well at school and get a good job in the most recent Social Mobility Index. Hastings is set to receive up to £6 million over the three years. Continue reading

Making GP services work for you

HelpMyNHSWe all know life can get hectic sometimes and with busy schedules it’s often difficult to find a time to look after ourselves. This is especially true when it comes to finding a GP appointment that doesn’t clash with other commitments.

We are committed to making sure that everyone has easier access to GP services including appointments on weekday evenings and at weekends. This is called “extended access”.

Local people are being asked to say when they would like to be able to access GP services outside of the current opening hours by completing a short survey. Choices include Saturday morning, weekdays between 0700 and 0800 or Sunday afternoon. There are also questions on where you would be willing to travel to access these services and your views on alternatives to face-to-face consultations.

The survey is available until Tuesday 13 Feb 2018. You can follow the link below to complete the survey online but paper copies will also be available in GP surgeries. Please do encourage people to have their say and help us improve access to GP services in East Sussex.

http://bit.ly/ESBTGPSURVEY

Stakeholder group champions countywide co-production

The East Sussex collaborative health and wellbeing stakeholder group provides a way for community representatives to be part of strategic planning for health and care in East Sussex.

The group replaces some of the previous Partnership Boards including Older People, Mental Health, Carers and Improving Life Chances. The Autism and the Learning Disability Partnership Boards continue.

The aim of the group is to engage and contribute to the strategic planning processes across East Sussex. This includes East Sussex Better Together as a transformation programme.

Having a wide range of views on how things are working across the county will help set the right strategic direction and ensure that commissioners and providers of services make best use of the experiences and expertise of stakeholders in improving health and care.

Community engagement

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