Neighbourhoods

National policy sets out a clear ambition to shift care closer to home, strengthen prevention, and bring services together around people and communities through neighbourhood health. This reflects a growing understanding that health is shaped by the conditions of people’s daily lives, and not by services alone. What is often less clear is how to put this ambition into practice through partnership with communities and the VCSE sector.

Changing geographical footprints or structures will not, on its own, change how systems work. Genuine neighbourhood health requires investment in community capacity, different relationships, shared accountability and a willingness to redistribute power.

NAVCA was invited to provide the VCSE sector perspective at the recent Health Devolution Commission. Our message was simple: the ambition for neighbourhood health is right, but the delivery conditions are not yet in place.

Across England, we are seeing a shift towards neighbourhood health, with the aim of moving care closer to communities and tackling inequalities. On paper, the vision is compelling. In practice, however, many neighbourhood models are falling short of their potential.

Across public services, regeneration and local democracy, “neighbourhoods” are becoming more prominent. From Integrated Neighbourhood Teams in health, to regeneration plans and new local governance models, the neighbourhood is being positioned as the place where services are delivered, and decisions are made closer to where people live.