Health and social care join forces to give health and wellbeing a boost

HEALTH and social care teams have joined forces to improve the quality of life of people with long term health conditions.

Partners from NHS Bury Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Bury Council will also be working together over the year ahead to identify ways to reduce the number of people who die from respiratory diseases such as COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease); and to reduce the number of emergency hospital admissions linked to alcohol related liver disease. 

NHS Bury CCG has a wide range of priorities which it will focus on during the year with a view to improving the health and wellbeing of local people. As part of changes in the NHS nationally, three of these priority areas were identified for joint delivery with Bury Council.  This process wasn’t about reducing the number of priorities, but highlighting three areas where together NHS Bury CCG and Bury Council could make a difference within a year by taking a joined up approach.

Dr. Kiran Patel, Chair for NHS Bury CCG and local GP said: “From our range of priorities planned for this year, we worked with colleagues and stakeholders to hone in on three areas where it was felt that by working together we could make a real difference.”

The three priority areas for joint delivery this year are:

·  Improving the health related quality of life for people with long term health conditions

·  Reduce the growth in the number of emergency hospital admissions for alcohol related liver disease

·  Halting the growth in the number of people aged under 75 who die from respiratory diseases

Dr. Patel continued: “We need to deliver these three priorities with our existing resources, and by working in an integrated way we hope we can maximise our resources and the benefits for our patients.”

“We are currently planning how together we can make a difference.  This will include looking at ways we can prevent people from developing lung disease through interventions such as the stop smoking service, and supporting individuals with lung diseases to stay well for longer.  Through specialist alcohol support we want to prevent people from developing liver disease, and supporting those who have liver disease to manage their condition and stay out of hospital.  We also want to make sure that we learn from the experiences of patients with long term health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, to find out what impacts on their quality of life and to make sure that this intelligence influences how local services and planned and delivered.”

Cllr Rishi Shori, cabinet member for adult care, health and housing at Bury Council, added: "We can always achieve much more when we work together and pool our knowledge and hard work. We are delighted to be working with the CCG on these priority areas and look forward to making a real difference to local people's health."

ENDS

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