Place Boards and Health and Wellbeing Partnerships

The health system in Norfolk has two ways of looking at place. This is through the Norfolk and Waveney Place Boards and the seven Health and Wellbeing Partnerships.

Place Boards

The Norfolk and Waveney Place Boards are place-based partnerships which bring together:

The NHS
Local councils
Voluntary organisations
Residents
People who access services
Carers and families

The boards split Norfolk into five areas of North, East, South, West, and Norwich. These partnerships will lead design and delivery of integrated services in their local area.

Health and Wellbeing Partnerships

Norfolk's Health and wellbeing partnerships (H&WPs) are based on district council footprints. They bring together colleagues from:

County and district councils
Health services
Wider voluntary, community and social enterprise sector organisations
Other partners

They will focus on a diverse range of social, economic, environmental and structural factors that affect health and wellbeing.

Reports and case studies

CMO Report

The Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Professor Chris Whitty, drew from the experiences of Norfolk in his 2023 annual report.

The report highlights the work of Norfolk's Health and Wellbeing Partnerships to promote healthy ageing.

The Partnerships are responsible for many projects across Norfolk such as:

Community connectors in North Norfolk
Home-based exercise programmes in Norwich
Decluttering and falls prevention in Great Yarmouth

These help older people to be resilient and lead independent lives.

See the full Annual Report. The chapter on Norfolk County Council begins on page 114.

Great Yarmouth Health and Wellbeing Partnership - success story

Health and Wellbeing Partnership funding for 2022-2025, provided by Public Health, part funds the Community Marshalls working in the Community Hub.

The hub aims to help local individuals with health and wellbeing issues. It brings together more than 30 organisations to offer wraparound multi-agency support. The types of organisations involved include community groups, local authority and NHS staff.

The marshalls investigate issues raised to the hub and coordinate between individuals and services. In the six-month period January to June 2023 there were 1,025 new cases.

One such case was a 94-year-old woman brought to the Community Hub with concerns for her welfare, particularly clutter in her home.

She had previously had a fall and was heavily reliant on the support of a neighbour but trying to live independently.

Initial assessments raised concerns over appliances that could overheat and out-of-date food. The woman also had a large quantity of medication which had not been reviewed in 10 years.

Community Marshals and a Community Hub Case Worker visited her home and then, with consent, also spoke with the neighbour.

The woman said she had lost weight; was feeling lonely and isolated and was afraid of having another fall. She was unsure of her income and outgoings and said she would like help with decluttering and accessing services.

Immediate support given to the woman included:

GP appointment
Fire risk assessment of the property
Removal of bulky items and decluttering of access points to help prevent falls
Installation and subscription to the Community Care Alarm Scheme
Fitting of a key safe to the property
Subscription to Centre 81 to access groups in the community
Arranging rodent extermination
Applying for pension credit and council tax reduction
Checking the EPC rating of the property and assisting with grant applications for insulation as well as carrying out boiler system and general household safety checks

The woman is now accessing the community and joining local church activities. She wears a care alarm wristband, has permitted further clearance of her property and welcomed support with her finances.

This support has helped increase her independence while easing the demands on the neighbour. Ongoing check-ups have been set up to assure support through the Community Hub.

This shows how the Community Marshalls are helping people lead independent lives and are intervening early to help vulnerable people before their situation reaches crisis point.

This not only promotes better health and wellbeing for individuals but allows agencies to use their resources more efficiently.