Thousands of South East residents are set to benefit from improved care closer to home with six sites selected for the governments’ new neighbourhood health programme in the region. 

Part of the government’s Plan for Change which is seeing care shifted from hospitals into the community, projects in Portsmouth, Folkestone and Hythe, Surrey Downs, Buckinghamshire, Slough and East Berkshire and Hastings and Rother have been chosen to be national ‘pioneer’ sites to take innovative approaches to launching fully integrated neighbourhood health teams, co-designed with local residents and partners.  

The programme is backed by £10million of government funding, with sites allocated a programme lead who will work with existing local services to set up a new neighbourhood health service. 

 The programme leads will draw together a range of professions to develop a ‘neighbourhood health team’ consisting of community nurses, hospital doctors, social care workers, pharmacists, dentists, optometrists, paramedics, social prescribers, local government organisations and the voluntary sector – giving people easier access to the right care and support on their doorstep. 

The pioneer sites will initially focus on supporting people with long term conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, angina, high blood pressure, MS, or epilepsy – in areas with the highest deprivation. 

Folkstone and Hythe in East Kent is one of the South East locations selected as a pioneer site and will focus on launching a fully integrated neighbourhood team in Folkestone and Hythe, co-designed with residents and partners. Kent Community Health already has a strong track record of innovation on neighbourhood health leading to joined up services and better outcomes for local residents.  

For example, Primary Care Networks in Folkestone and Hythe have previously worked to identify patients who are most at risk and worked with care coordinators in the GP practice to proactively manage their care. This has resulted in A&E visits dropping from 223 to 33 in six months for this group of patients, with unplanned GP appointments falling from 671 to 126 easing pressure on the system and ensuring patients receive the right care closer to home.  

In Portsmouth, work will build on the already impressive initiatives in Paulsgrove, where the council, NHS services, schools, churches, playgroups, and other local groups are working together to join up their services and ensure that residents are at the heart of shaping the care that they need. Projects to increase physical activity and improve the lifestyles of people experiencing mental health difficulties in the local area are showing positive early outcomes with users reporting increased confidence and wellbeing and are just one example of the impact joined up care can have on outcomes and also preventing ill-health.  

Meanwhile in East Surrey, Surrey Downs Health and Care is an innovative partnership between local NHS organisations to provide adult community health services in Surrey Downs offering everything from virtual wards helping to care for people in their own home, community speech and language therapy services, stroke care, a dietician service and much more.  

To further grow neighbourhood health in the region, the NHS in the South East has also launched its own South East Neighbourhood Health Accelerator Programme (SE-NHAcc), delivered by NHS Confederation, which will work with neighbourhood teams from Hampshire and Isle of Wight, Kent and Medway, Surrey, Sussex, Frimley, and Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West over the next eight months to develop new models of care that bring services closer to communities whilst tackling health inequalities.  

Each participating team will focus on specific local challenges, from supporting elderly residents and their carers in Maidenhead to addressing the intersection between financial wellbeing and mental health in Crawley.  

The selected areas include some of the most deprived communities in the South East. Central Chatham in Medway has the lowest life expectancy in the area and serves a younger demographic facing complex health challenges. Meanwhile, areas like Canalside in Woking and Stanwell North represent pockets of significant health inequalities within Surrey, challenging perceptions of the county as uniformly affluent.  

Gosport Central Primary Care Network, serving 85,000 residents, will focus on supporting people with diagnosed frailty compounded by socioeconomic factors, helping them maintain independence and avoid unnecessary hospitalisation. The area includes Gosport Town, the fifth most deprived area in South East Hampshire.  

Each neighbourhood team comprises 8 participants drawn from across the health and care system, including primary and community care, social care, voluntary sector organisations, public health, mental health services, acute care, and local government representatives.  It builds on a strong community of practice which has been operating in the South East to share best practice and learning across neighbourhood health. 

Dr Tim Caroe, Medical Director for Primary Care Transformation at NHS England South East said:  

“The selection of these South East sites for the national Neighbourhood Health Programme reflects the region’s commitment to transforming care in local communities. These programmes are helping to shape a new model of health that has people and the places where they live at its heart. 

“The South East Neighbourhood Health Accelerator programme perfectly complements the national programme. We are helping local teams to learn together so that they can be part of building the new ways of working we need. From Hampshire’s coastal towns to the urban centres of Surrey and Kent — we are supporting teams to help those who need it most.  

“We’re all working together—NHS teams, councils, and local groups—to help people stay healthy. We’re not just fixing problems, we’re trying to stop them before they start. So far, fewer people are going to hospital, more are getting their vaccines, and we see care improving for many of our most vulnerable. 

Ruth Rankine, primary care director and neighbourhood lead at the NHS Confederation, said:

“Neighbourhood health has the potential to transform the way in which care is delivered to our communities. Not only will it drive more joined up working between the NHS and local authorities, but by working with communities as partners in the design and delivery of care we will achieve a truly personalised and proactive approach to supporting people’s health and wellbeing. 

“Using our knowledge and expertise of supporting neighbourhood working over the last two years we are looking forward to working with teams in the South East to deliver on their ambition to support more joined up, community focused delivery.”  

Dr Mayur Vibhuti, Chief Clinical Information Officer at NHS Kent and Medway ICB and programme faculty member, alongside Helen Gillivan from Kent County Council, will be joining Programme Director Louise Wheeler, Head of Leadership and Organisational Development at NHS Confederation, to provide clinical and commissioning expertise to support the teams’ development.  

The programme represents a fundamental shift towards community-focused healthcare delivery, moving away from hospital-centric models to create joined-up services that address the wider determinants of health and reduce inequalities across the South East.