Health, Social Care & Wellbeing Strategy
The Health Social Care & Wellbeing Strategy 2011-2015 is part of the Suite of Plans for Torfaen| which also includes the Community Strategy, the Children and Young People’s Plan and the Community Safety Plan. It is developed on a partnership basis between the Council and the Aneurin Bevan Health Board with input and support from Torfaen Voluntary Alliance and Public Health Wales. The document describes the strategic approach to improve health and wellbeing for the people of Torfaen as part of a long term policy programme.
Previous strategies have been on a 3 year cycle but this Strategy has a 4 year time line to fit with the Aneurin Bevan Health Board planning cycle and so aligns planning cycles across the service areas. Torfaen County Borough Council and the Aneurin Bevan Health Board are required under section 40 of the National Health Service Wales Act 2006 to have a joint Health, Social Care and Wellbeing Strategy. Health improvement is not just about health and social care services; it relates to every area of public services - education, employment, housing, community safety and tackling crime, local environments, income and tackling poverty, healthy lifestyles, transport and accident prevention. It is everyone’s business and our partners in the Strategy include Public Health Wales, Torfaen Voluntary Alliance and the wider third sector, Housing providers, and Gwent Heddlu Police.
To develop any plan or strategy, requires information from lots of areas and the Needs Assessment from Public Health Wales is the main source of facts and figures about the health of people in Torfaen, the gaps in services and what needs to be done to make improvements. There are other sources of information - from services already being provided and from the public telling us through consultation and various forum networks, what it is they need. The Needs Assessment |for 2010, the Consultation Comments and Responses| and the Technical Document for 2011-15| provide background and reasoning for the current Strategy.
The previous two Strategies covering 2005 - 2008 and 2008 -2011 can be accessed in the
archived documents| area of the site along with the relevant Needs Assessment and other background papers.
The shared outcomes for all public service partnerships in Torfaen are:
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Torfaen has a healthy population with a good quality of life
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People in Torfaen are safe
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People in Torfaen are educated for life
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People in Torfaen enjoy a prosperous economy
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People in Torfaen live in quality affordable homes
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People in Torfaen live in clean, green, sustainable communities
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Frail people in Torfaen are happily independent
The Health Social Care and Wellbeing Strategy priorities continue to be the following areas with a focus on the management of overlapping services and preventing and reducing health inequities.
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Education, skills and training
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Substance misuse
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Healthy living
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Vulnerable adults and carers
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Promoting independence and choice
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Long term limiting illness
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Inequalities
Work will not be exclusive to these areas but they will have a high focus for resources.
Torfaen County Borough Council, the Aneurin Health Board and partners welcome comments on the Health Social Care and Wellbeing Strategy at any time.
Written comments can be sent to:
Public Services Support Unit
Torfaen County Borough Council
Floor 5
Civic Centre
Pontypool
NP4 6YB