A new initiative to put health at the heart of new neighbourhoods and towns across the country has been launched this month by NHS England together with Public Health England.
This exciting new initiative is a call to local councils and others to work together with the NHS and PHE to design and develop new town partnerships that put innovative health and social care practice at the heart of urban planning to create healthier places to live from the outset.
“In practical terms that means a triple agenda: designing-in healthy living, capitalising on new home-based care and technologies to support older people at home, and sharing infrastructure across public services to make smarter use of taxpayers investment.” (Simon Stevens, NHS England Chief Executive)
The healthy new towns programme seeks to harness the huge opportunity presented by the need to build many more new homes to meet the housing shortfall, and aims to come up with new ways to shape places to radically improve population health, integrate health and care services, and offer new digital and virtual care fit for the future. Up to five long-term partnerships will initially be selected from across the country, covering housing developments of different sizes, from smaller projects up to those over 10,000 units.
More information about the initiative can be found at http://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/innovation/healthy-new-towns/
Interested organisations have until 30 September 2015 to submit their expressions of interest.
A copy of the healthy new towns programme prospectus can be downloaded here.