Key issues highlighted as top priorities by a Shropshire health partnership

Telford & Wrekin Integrated Place Partnership, formed in 2019, aims to transform the local health and social care system in the borough.

It is is accountable to the Telford & Wrekin Health and Wellbeing Board and the Telford & Wrekin Integrated Care Board.

Its members include senior officers from Telford & Wrekin Council, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin NHSWC, Primary Care Networks, Midlands Partnership Foundation Trust, Shropshire Community Health Trust, Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board, Healthwatch, Shropshire Partners in Care, and the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector.

At Telford & Wrekin Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee meeting, Fliss Mercer, interim executive director of adult social care, housing and customer services, and Helen Onions, interim director of health and wellbeing, shared TWIPP’s priorities for 2024 to 2026.

This, they say, is based on evidence supplied by various patient surveys and feedback gained by bodies such as NHS England.

Supporting General Practice

TWIPP say demand for GP services has seen a 9 per cent rise since the pandemic, with inequalities in access and quality across the borough.

Feedback from various people has highlighted how important it is to them, but the impact of not being able to access good quality sustainable GP practices is significant.

There is also an impact on hospital services because, if people think they cannot get a GP appointment, they go elsewhere, such as A&E.

“Residents are saying, once they get through the front door they have a good service, but it’s about getting in,” said Ms Onions.

TWIPP say that people want ‘joined up, high quality, accessible health services’ and there are ‘significant opportunities’ for health and care integration across communities.

This includes integrated neighbourhood teams, community prevention approaches, prevention and early intervention services, more care closer to home, and supporting residents to understand what services are available to them.

However, Councillor Paul Thomas said that more should be done about people accessing pharmacies first and taking the pressure off GPs because the public are not aware of it.

In response, Ms Onions says she will liaise with the communications team to ensure the message gets out.

Mental health services and support

According to TWIPP, premature morbidity in adults with severe mental illness is worse than Telford & Wrekin than than the English average, while the suicide rate in the borough for 2019 to 2021 (11.4 per 100,000) was also similar.

TWIPP say residents are reporting poor experiences of mental health services, with concerns raised around accessibility, waiting lists and availability of appointments, support before receiving crisis point not available, providing more services locally, and a lack of awareness of how to manage their own mental health.

However, the partnership says there are ‘significant opportunities’ for health and care integration to support improvements. This includes mental health prevention and early intervention services for all ages; more support/care closer to home; the role of voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE); and supporting residents to understand what services are available and how to access them.

Fraility and healthy ageing

The amount of people aged 65 and over in Telford & Wrekin increased by 35.7 per cent in the 2021 Census, which was one of the largest rises in England. People want to stay as independent as long as possible and be able to remain living in their own home.

However, TWIPP say concerns people have include: access to primary care services for health checks and mental health support; access to local support groups; access to local health screen and vaccinations; support to age well; risk of loneliness and isolationl and a lack of joined up health and care.

“It is really related to emotional health and wellbing,” said Ms Onions, with Ms Mercer adding that social contact is really important for people.

To help improve the situation, TWIPP say there should be multi-discliplinary approaches using a risk stratification/population health management approach to target those most at risk.