Wigan Health and Wellbeing Board

Wigan is one of 10 local authorities in Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership. Local integration is taking place in the context of the locality plan ‘Further, Faster’ and ‘The Deal 2030’, Wigan’s ambitious plan for the borough.


The health and wellbeing board (HWB) is an influential part of the system in which leaders set the strategic framework for health, care and wellbeing, agree population health outcomes, oversee progress on major developments and keep a focus on the delivery of the locality plan.

Under the direction of the HWB, significant transformation has taken place in commissioning and provision. Wigan is taking its joint commissioning arrangements to a new level by bringing together health and care budgets in a Section 75 pooled and aligned budget arrangement, extended to housing and leisure. This effectively creates a single public sector purse for the borough and the potential for more efficient use of resources. It is led by an integrated commissioning committee, which has political and clinical leadership. 

“Wigan Health and Wellbeing Board is supporting the local health and social care system to develop integrated, safe and high-quality services. We champion local services taking a holistic and asset-based approach to supporting residents, collectively tackling the wider determinants of health. Taking a combined approach, with a political and clinical lead as joint chairs, means that we are connected closely with the needs of our residents and patients, and can bring other politicians and clinicians from across the local NHS with us on our journey.”

Dr Tim Dalton, Chair of NHS Wigan Borough Clinical Commissioning Group and Joint Chair of Wigan Health and Wellbeing Board

The Healthier Wigan Partnership Alliance was established in 2018. This is a care organisation made up of commissioners and providers – the clinical commissioning group, the council, NHS providers, GP practices and wider partners – charged with transforming delivery of the full range of health, care and wellbeing services.

Healthier Wigan has developed a place-based operating model across seven ‘service delivery footprints’ of 30-50,000 population, where staff work as one team with the aim of joining up services around people and the places they live. This involves a new way of working, in line with the Wigan Deal, where staff identify the strengths and assets of local people and their communities. ‘Our Deal for a Healthier Wigan’ is an immersive training programme for health and care staff to adopt asset-based approach within their roles.

Primary care services and schools are the anchor points within the service delivery footprints, which continue to develop, with the alignment of community mental health and children’s services.

The HWB oversees a comprehensive approach to improving population health by tackling the wider determinants. It has seen positive improvements in outcomes, including the number of adults physically active, smoking rates, hospital stays for alcohol-related harm, teenage pregnancy rates, and early deaths attributable to cardiovascular disease and cancers.

Contacts

Dr Kate Ardern, Director Public Health

[email protected]

Rebecca Murphy, Healthier Wigan Partnership Director

[email protected]