We are proud of our local health and care services but we know we can and must do better.
Across the area known as Humber, Coast and Vale, we face significant challenges which mean we can’t carry on delivering health and social care services the way we do now.
We want to have an honest conversation about the challenges we face and work together with staff, patients and the public to come up with the best solutions for the future of our health and care services.
Across the area known as Humber, Coast and Vale, we face significant challenges which mean we can’t carry on delivering health and social care services the way we do now.
Men who live in the most affluent parts of our region can expect to live up to 20 years longer than those living in the most deprived areas and for women the gap is nearly as big at 17 years. Mortality rates in our area are higher than the national average. Factors that contribute to poor health, such as smoking, alcohol abuse and obesity, are also a significant problem for our population with rates higher than the national average.
23% of our 1.4m population live in areas that are categorised as the most deprived areas of England. Nearly 9% of the population is over 75 and this older population is growing year on year. These challenges need new and different solutions if we are to help our local people start well, live well and age well.
We also face challenges in providing good quality care for everyone who needs it across Humber, Coast and Vale. There are too many people who are not able to access the help and support they need when and where they need it and too many people are presenting at hospital in a crisis because alternative support was unavailable to them. At any one time we estimate that between a quarter and a half of hospital beds across the region are used by people who do not need to be there, often because the support they need to go home is not available.
Around 40% of A&E patients require no treatment and around a quarter of those who visited their GP could have had their issue resolved another way. At the same time there is increasing pressure on those services to respond to growing demand. We need new and different solutions to these challenges.
The amount of money that we have to spend locally on health and social care services is rising but demand for those services is also rising. If we continue to deliver health and care services in the same way as we do now and try to meet expected future demand for those services there is likely to be a gap in the budget required of nearly half a billion pounds across Humber, Coast and Vale.
These calculations are based on us delivering all the same services in the same way as we deliver them now and not making any changes or innovations. Therefore, it is crucial that we think about how to meet the health needs of our population in different ways so that we can make the most of every penny available to us.
Our resource constraints are not just about money. We also have long-standing difficulties finding and keeping the qualified workforce that we need. We know we need new solutions to our workforce challenges, which is why we are working together with a wide range of partners to develop the workforce of the future.
Bringing about this kind of transformative change is not within the gift of any one organisation but rather will require all of us to work together to deliver our shared goal. This is why we must work in partnership across Humber, Coast and Vale, across the NHS and Local Councils, with patients, staff and the public to achieve these collective goals. If we want an NHS fit for the future in our region, we need to work together to build it.
01482 344700
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