Where next for JSNA? Jon Burke NAVCA Development Adviser (Health and Social Care)

Background A Commissioning Framework For Health And Well-Being was published in This set out a statutory duty for Local Authorities and Primary Care Trusts to produce a joint strategic needs assessment (JSNA). A JSNA aims to establish a shared, evidence based consensus on key local priorities to support commissioning to improve health and wellbeing outcomes and reduce inequalities. The framework document stated that ‘a good JSNA will use local community views and evidence of effective interventions to shape future development of services and drive strategic commissioning’. However opportunities for the voluntary and community sector to engage with the process have been variable at best and, in many areas, virtually non-existent.

NAVCA’s input to development of JSNA 1 In late 2009 NAVCA was asked to support the Department of Health on a work stream to improve voluntary sector input to JSNA. At that time a number of issues were identified… –Staff in statutory organisations leading the development of JSNAs had little awareness of the insight local voluntary organisations have of the health needs of local communities. –They were also unaware of the services and support local voluntary organisations deliver to those communities. –Local voluntary organisations faced a variety of difficulties submitting information, evidence and comments to the development of JSNAs –JSNAs rarely recognised the needs of specific local communities

NAVCA’s input to development of JSNA 2 NAVCA offered guidance to the Department of Health on how to improve voluntary sector input to JSNAs in Summer Ideas within that guidance include… NAVCA members are ideally placed to co-ordinate input to JSNAs through representative activities such as voluntary sector networks. Those networks can also capture the needs and experience of groups local statutory organisations often struggle to engage with. This insight then needs feeding into JSNA development Local voluntary organisations should work with staff from statutory organisations to understand the needs of their service users, so that insight can be used in the development of JSNAs The JSNA should promote equality and reduce health inequalities

More recent developments 1 Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS, the government white paper on health, was published in July The white paper said local authorities will ‘Lead joint strategic needs assessments, which will inform the commissioning of health and care services’. The white paper also said… JSNAs will form the foundation of priority setting, encouraging greater involvement of local voluntary and community organisations. JSNAs will help local people to hold providers and commissioners to account, agree local priorities and inform a range of commissioning strategies and plans. The Health and Wellbeing Board, a new structure within the local authority, will ensure the JSNA would include involvement from all interested, including GP Consortia.

More recent developments 2 The white paper also said…We believe the NHS is an integral part of a Big Society. So the voice, advocacy and community engagement role of the voluntary and community sector will be of increasingly critical importance, articulating and championing peoples’ views, needs and preferences. JSNA is also mentioned in the more recently published public health white paper… The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment will be a key mechanism to enable high- quality public health services and to strengthen the critical links with other services such as primary care

So what happens now? New guidance on the development of JSNA, promoting improved involvement of local voluntary organisations in development of JSNAs and a stronger emphasis on using JSNAs to inform commissioning, will soon be launched on the Local Government Improvement and Development website at This guidance will also promote use of another website, hosted by Voluntary Organisation Disability Group which outlines a variety of resources to support involvement of local voluntary organisations in development of JSNAs

Further Information To share ideas and discuss health and social care issues, join the Social Care and Health discussion group on NAVCA's social networking site, navcaboodle To ask a question about a health or social care topic, or to find out what others are doing in other areas, sign up to HealthNet, our dedicated health and social care group, by ing: For the latest health and social care news visit Or for any other health and social care related enquiry please contact Jon Burke Development Adviser (Health and Social Care) Tel: |