A Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) is a ‘means by which PCTs and local authorities will describe the future of health and wellbeing needs of local populations and the strategic direction of service delivery to meet these needs’ (Commissioning for Health and Wellbeing 2007). It is aimed at commissioners and will allow them to commission services and interventions that are based on need and will in turn achieve better health and wellbeing outcomes and reduce inequalities.
By providing analysis of data to show the health and wellbeing status of local communities, defining where inequalities exist and using local knowledge alongside evidence of effectiveness of interventions, the JSNA will inform more effective commissioning for health and wellbeing in both the short and long term. This is Nottingham’s third completed round of JSNA and builds on the first and second JSNA, completed in April 2008 and 2009.