CLCH launches new five-year strategy: ‘Healthy Neighbourhoods, Thriving Communities’

CLCH has launched a new, ambitious five-year strategy to improve the health and wellbeing outcomes of our patients and communities. The strategy ‘Healthy Neighbourhoods, Thriving Communities’ is a radical step forward, positioning community care as the cornerstone of health and wellbeing in the populations we serve.

The strategy comes at a pivotal time for the NHS in England, as the government publishes its 10 year health plan which sets out three big shifts: from hospital-based care to community, sickness to prevention, and analogue to digital. CLCH is ready to shape the future of community care – leading with ambition, delivering with expertise and helping to create a flourishing Neighbourhood Health Service.

CLCH’s vision remains clear: to provide great care closer to home. Our mission commits us to enabling thriving communities that give children the best start in life and adults greater independence. We will do this by focusing on population health. That means achieving better health and wellbeing for everyone who needs it and especially those people and communities who typically die younger and live more years in poor health than other people.

For patients, a flourishing Neighbourhood Health Service will mean:

• not having to repeat their story to different professionals
• care will feel more personal, and they’ll know exactly who to contact and how, if needed
• smoother, faster transfers between different types of care
• proactive support to help them stay healthy, mobile, and independent
• recovering at home when possible, through virtual wards and earlier discharge after hospital stays.

James Benson, Chief Executive Officer at CLCH, said: “As one of the largest community healthcare providers in the country and the only specialist community services NHS trust in London, CLCH delivers care across diverse urban, suburban, and rural settings.

“This strategy sets out our ambitious plan to deliver a more joined-up, accessible health service that has a real and meaningful impact on the health and wellbeing of the patients and communities we serve.

“It’s no longer just about what we do as an organisation; it's about working with partners, from local authorities to GPs, NHS trusts, the voluntary sector and others, to improve the health of our communities. We'll use our expertise in delivering a range of community services to help our residents live healthier lives."

Learn more about our new strategy by watching our animation video below.

The full strategy document can be viewed on our website.

Our new annual review magazine

You can find examples of our strategy in action, including how we are already working closely with partners to reduce health inequalities and provide more holistic care, in our annual review magazine, which launched at the AGM on 30 July.

Inside you can read about how new technologies are helping to prevent pressure ulcers and how at-home blood testing is speeding up diagnosis and treatment. Learn about an innovative partnership in Harrow which is supporting patients to regain their independence. Discover how the Oral Health Promotion Service in Hammersmith and Fulham is making a real difference for children, and how the End-of-Life Care team in Merton is providing compassionate support in patients’ final days.

Other highlights include the neurological rehabilitation team in Hertfordshire offering pioneering care to help stroke survivors return to work, and the Barnet Pulmonary Rehabilitation Service tackling health inequalities for people with respiratory conditions.