By Jason Lewis, Local Democracy Reporter
Health leaders have stressed the importance of trying to move the focus from treatment in hospitals to prevention in the community.
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Labelled by those in the sector as the ‘left shift’, it is hoped it can provide a solution to the increased demand.
Leaders at Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, which provides mental health, learning disability and community care services, told Southampton city councillors the move towards prevention was the main basis for work on developing integrated neighbourhood teams.
Explaining the principle behind the ‘left shift’ at a health overview and scrutiny panel meeting, trust chief executive Ron Shields said: “Fundamental to our strategy is that shift from most of resource perhaps being directed on treating ill health to actually how we keep people healthy.
“How we support people and how we support communities in their health and wellbeing and that left shift as it’s described.”
Alasdair Snell, managing director for the Southampton and South-West Hampshire Clinical Division, said: “In terms of the NHS, the last decade feels like we have been firefighting always trying to deal with too much demand for the capacity we have.”
He added: “If we always just focus on those that are really needing it now and never focus on the future, it is a self-perpetuating cycle.”
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust was formed in October last year by bringing together Solent NHS Trust, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust and Isle of Wight NHS Trust.
It also took on child and adolescent mental health services that were provided in Hampshire by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
Mr Shields said the NHS could not continue funding the secondary and tertiary services in the way it has done previously.
He said: “We cannot within the resources that will be available and recognising that the NHS is about a 40 per cent of public expenditure, we are not going to be getting significantly more resource onto the NHS side of it.
“We therefore have to change the situation away from the treatment towards the preventative.
“That’s the headline answer to it.”
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