Our local population
NHS South East Essex serves a registered GP population of approx. 361,000 covering the Borough of Castle Point, District of Rochford and the Borough of Southend on Sea. However, the census population is lower at approx. 325,000.
Our local population has a diverse make-up with different issues for the countryside areas of Castle Point and Rochford from those that are relevant to the dense urban population of Southend-on-Sea.
Over the next 10 years, we are expecting low to moderate growth in the local population, but there will be a big increase in people aged over 65, possibly over a third more by 2021. Overall, the number of people from ethnic minorities in South East Essex is lower than the national average, except in Southend where there is a higher proportion. This is linked to a higher incidence of health problems, such as coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke and diabetes. We also know from the experience of our staff that people in some ethnic communities may not be accessing healthcare services.
As in the rest of England, people in South East Essex are living longer as each year passes, except in our most deprived local communities, where life expectancy is lagging behind other local communities.
Over the next five years we aim to:
- Ensure that the public and patients are much more involved with their care, have the opportunity to be involved in the planning of services and know that the NHS will listen to feedback to improve service quality.
- Make the health system over the next 5 years substantially more efficient; we have identified £40m of efficiencies that can be achieved from existing services. The release of this £40m from existing providers will enable NHS South East Essex to prepare the South East Essex system for further efficiency savings if required from 2011 onwards in light of the changed position with public expenditure.
- Undertake a wide range of initiatives to ensure that the population is healthier, particularly in those areas in South East Essex where people have less opportunity to lead healthy life styles. We have set ourselves ambitious targets to reduce smoking, levels of obesity, drug and alcohol use, and improved uptake in cancer screening programmes.
- Make substantial investments in primary care with the introduction of new GP providers, substantial enhancement of premises for GP practices and primary care, new opening hours for practices and a new way to ensure high standards of quality in primary care.
- Provide a range of new services in the community as an alternative to traditional acute (i.e. hospital) care. For example, outpatient care would be much more local to where patients live. We are proposing a new urgent care centre and more mental health services in the community.
- Bring together primary, community and social care services. This will achieve a more joined up service that can respond to patients’ needs as a whole. In particular this will benefit those who are elderly or with long term conditions, to remain healthier for longer, and avoid frequent admission to hospital.
- We are well aware of the challenges we face in delivering this programme. Those challenges are now even greater because of the change in the outlook for public finances and the overall economic situation that is bringing greater stresses for the communities we serve. As a result, we must use our funds even more imaginatively and effectively, and we must expect all the providers of health care to become even more efficient.
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