Joint Strategic Needs Assessment

JSNAs will take account of data and information on inequalities between the differing, and overlapping, communities in local areas and support the meeting of statutory requirements in relation to equity audits.

The reason for doing a JSNA, and doing it well, is to develop the whole health and social care response so it more closely meets the wants and needs of local people. It will provide an opportunity to look ahead three to five years and support and direct the change that needs to happen in local service systems so that:

• services are shaped by local communities (‘voice’)
• inequalities are reduced and social inclusion is increased
• these outcomes are maximised at minimum cost

A good JSNA will:

• provide analyses of data to show the health and well-being status of local communities and define where inequities exist,
• use local community views and evidence of effectiveness of interventions to shape the future investment and disinvestment of services.
• define achievable improvements in health and well-being outcomes
• send signals to existing and potential providers of services about potential service change
• support the delivery of better health and well-being outcomes for the local community
• inform the next stages of the commissioning cycle
• underpin the Local Area Agreement and the choice of local outcomes and targets.

Information is the key to a good JSNA. Information on illness, what people are dying of, and what stops people living the best life they can, is available, but not necessarily in one place or systematically. It can be used, alongside cost information, to make the best judgements possible. Programme budgeting information will help local authorities, PCTs and the wider Local Strategic Partnerships to understand where they are spending their resources and identify the potential for shifting resources between activities to produce better outcomes.

The production of JSNAs are the responsibility of the Director of Adult Service, Housing and Health, Director of Children’s Services and the Director of Public Health, but many others are likely to have a role to play in getting the JSNA right and delivering better outcomes.

JSNAs will become an integral part of the planning cycle of local authorities and the NHS. It is likely that they will need to be carried out in line with the three-year Local Area Agreement cycle.