Gateshead Health and Wellbeing Strategy

We aim to deliver the most positive outcomes for everyone, but we will focus our resources to help those in the most need - this will mean doing different things in different places.

We know we need to do more to address inequalities so we will prioritise the use of our collective resources to those communities in Gateshead that need us most. This is very different to how we have previously allocated resources based on equality (everyone getting the same).

Equality:
everyone is given the same support. Because their needs differ, they don't all get the same outcome. Equal treatment doesn't produce equal results

Equity:
People are given different levels of support based on their needs. Now everyone can see the game. Resources are distributed fairly, rather than equally

Removing Barriers: 
Instead of continually giving different levels of support, the structural barrier (the fence) is removed. Now everyone can see the game without extra help

The diagram shows that giving everyone the same level of support doesn't work. People need support that matches their level of need, and we should also try to remove the barriers that cause those needs in the first place.

As national policies continue to change, we face both new opportunities and new challenges. To respond well, we need to make sure our approaches are more person‑centred, easier for people to use, and focused on prevention. Different areas and groups will need different approaches, based on their local needs and strengths. By working in this way, we can better meet our shared goals at national, regional, and local levels.

Delivering these aims will take coordinated action from a wide range of partners, strategies, and structures. We recognise that many workstreams are already underway and addressing much of what is needed. This strategy will not replace that work. Instead, it will acknowledge it, bring it together, 
streamline it, and strengthen it - both across partner organisations and in collaboration with our communities.

While the Joint Health and Wellbeing Board has the statutory responsibility for overseeing the strategy, we will identify the most appropriate multi‑agency boards or partnerships to lead on delivering each of the eight strategic objectives. Each objective sets out how work is already happening and how it will continue to develop.

We are implementing a Health and Wellbeing in All Policies (HiAP) approach because many of the building blocks of health and wellbeing - including housing, education, transport, employment, the local environment and access to health, care and support services - are shaped by decisions made across the Council, NHS, and other public sector organisations. HiAP is about working together across all services and sectors to think about how our decisions affect the building blocks of health and wellbeing, and to use every opportunity to improve health and reduce inequalities. It is an internationally recognised framework, endorsed by the World Health Organisation.

Health and Wellbeing in All Policies is one of six cross-cutting themes, we have agreed as essential for successful outcomes as we implement our Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

Our six cross-cutting themes

• Health and Wellbeing in all Policies
• Leadership and Governance
• Communications, Engagement - working with communities, Networks for collaboration
• Research, Learning and Evaluation
• Employee Experience and Wellbeing
• Training and skills development

Developing these themes will provide a firm foundation as we continue to implement our Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

We recognise that many of the outcomes we want to deliver, across the Strategy are very ambitious. However, we feel passionately that all Gateshead residents deserve to live in conditions that create good health and wellbeing. Whilst the strategy is aspirational, we will work to measure our progress, looking at the steps we need to take to achieve our goals together. The strategy is the starting point from which we will set out a clear action plan that captures the work that is already being done in Gateshead and details what else we will do across partner organisations to achieve our aims.