The NHS, and public sector as a whole, has faced unprecedented challenges over the last two years. The effect of COVID-19 on mental health and wellbeing has been substantial. Services already under pressure have been stretched further in the face of rising demand from children and adults.
The long term effects are likely to be considerable, particularly for those who will require new or additional physical and mental health support. We must take account of this context but, through our ongoing planning, we must move forward by meeting these challenges head on.
When imagining the future, we will use this as a backdrop for future success:
The health needs of our local population will continue to change and grow. We will need to meet these demands and maintain capacity for specialist services. To do this we will need to embrace continuous improvement and innovation and to work with our partners to increase the amount of health and care provided outside the hospital. We will continue to develop our organisation to be clinically led, support our staff to make decisions and consider new roles and ways of working in areas where recruitment is more difficult.
We know that those living in the most deprived communities experience poorer mental health, higher rates of smoking and greater levels of obesity than the more affluent. People from these areas spend more years in ill health and they die sooner. Reducing health inequalities is an economic and social challenge and requires us to work beyond traditional NHS boundaries as part of wider societal approach to care.
Growth in demand and the increasing complexity of community needs will continue to cause pressure on our capacity and resources. This necessitates a change to the way we work. We will invest in the latest digital technology to create an organisation that adapts and adopts new ways of working that better meet the needs of people, families and communities. We will seek to make the best use of NHS resources for patient care and develop sustainable services for the long term and seek new ways of meeting the challenges of recruitment and retention and maintaining the wellbeing of our colleagues.