Our three year strategy is detailed below and in the related content section. A PDF version of our strategy is available to view on partner websites - please visit CAVS to view this
Introduction
Cllr Arthur Williams, former Chair of the Castle Point & Rochford Health and Wellbeing Board, and Sarah Mills, Transformation & Engagement Lead for South East Essex Alliance, introduce the new strategy and explain how it has been developed:
In developing this new strategy, the Health and Wellbeing Board has considered:
- Health and wellbeing outcomes in Castle Point and Rochford
- What needs have emerged because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
- Progress made against our last strategy
- Other local strategies and plans
- New data and insight from our health and wellbeing partners
- Feedback from residents
An action plan will sit alongside the strategy to show how we are implementing it. It will detail the work we are doing and the outcomes we will measure to monitor our impact and progress.
This is our story as to how we are going to work together to achieve our vision.
Our Strategy vision
Castle Point and Rochford will be inclusive places where everyone is empowered, informed, and supported to live healthy lives.
Our Health and Wellbeing Board
Castle Point and Rochford have a joint Health and Wellbeing Board. It is a partnership of local organisations working together to promote wellbeing across Castle Point and the Rochford District. The Board is chaired by Cllr Julie Gooding and is made up of people from:
- Castle Point Borough Council and Rochford District Council
- Castle Point and Rochford Clinical Commissioning Group
- Essex County Council
- Essex Partnership University Trust who provide community health services
- Community and voluntary sector organisations including Citizens Advice, CAVS, RRAVS, The Megacentre Rayleigh, South East and Central Essex Mind, Bar ‘N’ Bus, Trust Links, Canvey Island Youth Project and Hawkwell Baptist Church
We are committed to working together to deliver the right help and support for our residents. We want to enable them to live healthier and happier lives.
Our Board has the following aims and objectives:
- To address the health needs and challenges within our local communities
- To deliver our strategy and review our progress each year
- To share information, resources, and best practice
- To look at new ways of working to create a connected and sustainable offer for the people of Castle Point and Rochford
Our Strategy Key Pillars
We have centred our strategy around three pillars:
- People – to improve the health and wellbeing of our residents across all ages and target resource proportionately based on need
- Purpose – for residents to feel empowered to improve their health and wellbeing, and to build resilience, to enable them to live well
- Place – working at a local level to build healthy, active, and thriving communities that people feel connected to.
Our Strategy Principles
We have also based our strategy on 10 key principles that underpin its delivery:
- Early intervention and prevention. This means stopping problems from happening, where possible, and dealing with them at an earlier stage when they do so that they don't get worse
- Helping people to be resilient. This means having the knowledge, skills, and confidence to manage their health and be able to bounce back from tough times
- Supporting people in a wholesome way, taking account of their individual needs and circumstances. We call this a person-centred approach.
- Working together to build, strengthen, and maintain relationships and trust, and join up better with services
- Reducing health inequalities by tackling the social factors that affect health
- Being able to adapt and respond to ever-changing needs, mobilise resources quickly, and scale up when needed
- Sharing information to make it easier to know who does what and where so that we all know what is available near where we live
- Clear communication. Spreading messages in different ways. This means we can reach more people and makes it easier for them to find, access and connect into the help they need
- Making best use of our assets. These can be things like our buildings, but also knowledge and resources
- A place-based approach. Creating opportunities, as well as the right environment for people to live well
Health and Wellbeing Board members Kathy Kentish, Chief Executive at Citizens Advice South Essex, Julie Sawford, Family Support Worker at The Megacentre Rayleigh, and Janis Gibson, Chief Executive Officer at CAVS, talk about the importance of early intervention and prevention:
This focus on prevention and early intervention is important so that people of all ages can lead healthy and fulfilling lives and age well. It is the bedrock of our health and wellbeing strategy.
Strategic Context
We have designed our approach with the aims and strategic plans of our Health and Wellbeing Board partners in mind. This strategy supports and is aligned to numerous local plans and strategies, as well as those on a wider footprint, such as:
- Essex Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy*
- Fit for the Future Physical Activity and Sport Strategy for Essex, Southend and Thurrock
- Southend, Essex and Thurrock Dementia Strategy*
- Essex All-Age Carers Strategy
- Essex Early Years Strategy
- Locality Strategy / South East Essex Place Plan*
- Essex Children and Young People’s Plan
- Mid and South Essex Health and Care Partnership’s 5 Year Plan
- Castle Point Borough Council Corporate Plan
- Rochford District Council Business Plan
*Currently still in development and / or being refreshed.
The South East Essex Alliance
This is a partnership of organisations from across Castle Point, Rochford, and Southend – collectively, South East Essex. The Alliance partners are committed to working together, and with residents and communities, to make support available closer to where people live.
Nationally, GP practices have come together in groups of five or six to form what we call Primary Care Networks (PCNs). Here in Castle Point and Rochford there are four PCNs. These are sat in four locality areas – Benfleet, Canvey, Rayleigh, and Rochford.
The aim is to develop services around people and places, in these four areas, to create a more joined up way of working. One that unites us all in the journey to improve health and wellbeing.