Development of a CVD Prevention Programme – Heart of Wigan

Background

NHS Ashton, Leigh and Wigan (NHS ALW) is in the process of developing a strategy to coordinate the borough’s cardio vascular disease (CVD) prevention and treatment services through to 2020.

NHS ALW acknowledges that to tackle CVD in the borough there is a need to focus on a population level intervention such as policy and environmental modification alongside more individual treatment and prevention work. As such, NHS ALW need to engage with a wide variety of public, private and community sector organisations within and outside the borough of Wigan.

To ensure that this engagement is effective NHS ALW has identified the potential to build an infrastructure that supports and develops the links between the various organisations and programmes that directly or indirectly impact on CVD levels within the borough. NHS ALW is therefore taking this opportunity for a borough wide service review to consider how it can enhance and strengthen the CVD prevention and treatment services, identify gaps in service delivery and consider a logical partnership framework within which all services can develop.

Approach

HM Partnerships were commissioned to conduct an independent feasibility study to examine the potential of developing an umbrella organisation/structure – with a working title of ‘Heart of Wigan’ – that could add value to the existing programmes and support coordination around the borough’s CVD treatment and prevention targets.

Findings

• The case for setting up a Partnership in the broad domain of CVD is strong
• Any initiatives taken should be coordinated by a joint vision (and strategy) for CVD and incorporate environmental modification, prevention (population and individual levels) and treatment
• Any solution has to be linked in an effective way to the LSP
• Although a reporting structure for the partnership was suggested, further consideration needs to be given by stakeholders as to the autonomous nature of a potential independent partnership
• There is a requirement for a committed budget to ensure the partnership can deliver against a strategy. Its position within this range would depend on HR and its delivery remit
• Further discussion is required with key stakeholders to breakdown the finer details of a partnership in terms of structure, organisational type and mandate
• The partnership must be specific about its anticipated impact and realistic about its aims and objectives. The effectiveness of the partnership should be assessed against strong base line data and be subjected to rigorous independent evaluation