Developing health and care services for Bletchley: your views
What is a 'neighbourhood'?
NHS England call this initiative ‘Fuller Neighbourhoods’, named after Dr Claire Fuller who recommended that local health systems:
- Deliver the change patients and staff want and need – improving same-day access for urgent care.
- Improve personalised care for people who need it most.
- Improve preventative healthcare.
If you’re interested in learning more, you can read the full report on the NHS website.
The Milton Keynes Health and Care Partnership is leading on developing a neighbourhood model across Milton Keynes where health, social care and other services such as the police, schools and voluntary and community groups work together to improve access, health prevention support and personalised care to us in our local communities. Their first step was to pilot the first MK neighbourhood – this is called the Bletchley Pathfinder.
We hear from people every day who:
- Cannot access health services.
- Feel that they are not seen as an individual by healthcare professionals.
- Struggle managing long term health conditions.
Milton Keynes Health and Care Partnership asked us to speak to people living in Bletchley to find out how they currently experience care, and what they would like, and need, to see from services to help them stay well for longer.
Who did we speak to?
We ran a digital survey, and we listened to people at local event including:
- Bletchley Carnival
- Bletchley Health and Wellbeing Fair
- Whaddon Way Community Centre
- Patient Participation Groups
- West Bletchley Parish Council
- Bletchley and Fenny Stratford Town Council
- Community Larders, MK Carers
- The Recovery College/ Rethink
- Residents Associations across Bletchley
- The Patient engagement team at the Hawthorn Clinic
- Over 65s meet up groups
We also walked around Bletchley town centre and spoke to people as they were going about their day.
What did people tell us?
We heard from 220 Bletchley residents about their personal experiences of:
- Mental health support for children and young people
- Managing weight and healthy eating
- Getting active and exercising more
- Reducing or giving up alcohol
- Addiction to drugs
- Living with multiple long-term conditions
We also heard from residents about their experience of cancer, adult mental illness, dementia and type 1 and 2 diabetes.
Nearly 60% of people said they had used their GP for support with the health issues they, or their family members experienced.
However, 32% of people said they had not used any support at all.
You told us about the many services and community spaces that Bletchley residents use and connect with including:
- NHS Diabetes prevention programme
- Counselling
- Physiotherapy
- Youth clubs
- Hinton Hall
- ME support
- Slimming World
- Weight Watchers
- Open University ageing well sessions
- U3A
- Storytelling groups
- Cycling groups
- West Bletchley Shed
- Stoma support
- MS Support
- West Bletchley Counselling service
- Patient Participation group activities
- Residents association events.
We heard what you would like to see from health, social care and community support services in Bletchley that would help you to prevent ill health, provide more personalised support and improve access to services. You shared the following ideas:
Mental health services
Many of you called for more locally available mental health support for young people, but many also highlighted the need for more support for adults too. The availability of bereavement support and addictions support are key concerns. Whilst there are a number of mental health support services in Bletchley some residents feel that Westcroft is the closest service available to them, and that can be difficult to reach by public transport. Some residents feel that the community could work better together to provide spaces for counsellors to operate from.
Getting active
You told us that as pregnant women, sometimes it seems like most appropriate keep fit activities are often quite far away e.g., Wolverton, and more services could be made available locally such as pregnancy friendly pilates, yoga and aquarobics classes. Equally, there were calls from other residents for specific activities for older people, young people, and spaces made available in gyms for women only sessions. Many asked for more information to be made available about local walking and running groups. Overall, though, the main message from residents is one of cost and that there needs to be better availability of subsidised activities not limited to certain residents based on age, or in receipt of benefits.
Weight management
When it comes to losing and maintaining a healthy weight, Bletchley residents had a lot to say about what could support them, and their community. Many called out for spaces such as community centres, local green spaces and Bletchley leisure centre to be used to run support activities which included:
- Community activities for children outside typical working hours
- Opportunities to meet people
- Access a dietician and/or dietary advice
- Access cooking clubs with nutrition support and education about cooking healthy on a low budget.
When the Milton Keynes Health and Care Partnership asked us to gather the view of Bletchley residents about developing a neighbourhood approach to improving access, prevention and personalisation they wanted to know whether local health coaches would be helpful to us. We found that you were quite split about that idea with many supporting the idea, but many too not being sure.
Whether it was a yes, no, or uncertain you asked those developing the model to ensure that any health coach could provide:
- Practical and appropriate nutritional advice and support
- Inspiration and practical support for different ways to keep well
- Motivational support
- Support with eating disorders such as binge-eating
- Goal setting and checking in to monitor progress
- Support to people on low incomes but also recognise that many people are struggling for money at the moment
- Qualified support
Lastly, we gave Bletchley residents space to tell us about worries and hopes for them, their family and their community and if they could only change things to make Bletchley a happier, healthier neighbourhood, what would they be?
We heard many similar worries about challenges getting access to GPs and social care support, the impact of the decline of investment in Bletchley on loneliness and social isolation. Personal safety, crime and poor maintenance of streets and public spaces were key worries for many.
Many of you hoped that the Bletchley pathfinder could improve integrated working between services, councils and community centres to make care work better for Bletchley.
"Bletchley needs the heart put back and a real community space within the centre of the town with accessibility through public transport. This is an opportunity to create a hub which could bring together support services with a doctor's surgery, pharmacy, police etc. ...[helping] with budgeting, youth projects, social interaction for isolated groups and access to better healthcare information."
Bletchley resident
What is next for Bletchley?
Milton Keynes Health and Care Partnership brought together all the scoping work for the Bletchley Pathfinder, including our evidence of your views, and presented it their public meeting on 20th September.
The Partnership agreed to invest around £550,000 to develop the Bletchley Pathfinder Model. The funding will focus on:
- Developing a Bletchley Health Coach Model
- Improve funding for social and support groups
- Pilot programmes aimed at families to eat well
- Training, workshops and support for professionals to develop integrated ways of working in Bletchley
We want to thank every resident of Bletchley that took the time to respond to our questions about the Bletchley Pathfinder. Healthwatch Milton Keynes will be monitoring how the Bletchley neighbourhood model develops and keep you informed.
