Start well, live well, age well We need your views on the NHS in south west London

You may be aware that NHS commissioners and providers are working in partnership with local authorities to develop a five-year plan for health and care in south west London. This ‘Sustainability and Transformation Plan’ (STP) follows publication of the NHS Five Year Forward View and is a requirement for all NHS regions in England. The scheduled publication date is July 2016.

We have engaged extensively with the public in south west London on these matters, including publishing our ‘Issues Paper’ last year and holding a deliberative event in each of our six boroughs. The feedback from these events is available online http://www.swlccgs.nhs.uk/documents/independent-reports-from-the-help-us-build-a-new-nhs-in-south-west-london-events/ and we will be publishing a formal response to all feedback received alongside our STP in June/July.

We should emphasise that the STP we publish in July will be a headline strategy setting out our approach, rather than answering every question about how services might work in future. We will look to hold further discussions with MPs, local stakeholders and local organisations as we develop the detail of our strategy.

In the meantime, we have given some thought to our priorities in the STP. We know we can’t solve everything at once and that we have to prioritise. The needs of our population have changed with more people living longer with long term conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and dementia. One of our key areas of focus is on preventative and proactive care and we will need to deliver health services differently to help people stay well.