Together with the Primary Care Trust and our local GP Commissioning Group we have agreed what we need to do to improve the health and well being for older people in York.

The overarching vision for older people in York, to be achieved over the next five years, is one where a higher proportion of older people remain within the community, having fewer hospital and care home admissions and are able to enjoy a greater independence; a wider choice of accommodation options and greater social engagement.

The deteriorating financial climate, combined with the growth in the numbers of older people, will inevitably mean meeting greater demands with fewer resources. This makes it essential to transform the services that health and social care fund, to reduce demand through successful health and social care interventions and to avoid duplication and waste.

If the vision is to be achieved then health commissioners and the local authority need to work ever more closely with each other, and with voluntary organisations and other third sector bodies, in order to agree common targets for improving the health and well-being of local people and communities.  This will require an improved understanding of need and the ability to better define service requirements and use of resources. 

Five strategic outcomes have been developed through which the vision can be achieved. These are that more older people will:

• be demonstrably treated with dignity and respect
• have greater involvement in family and community life
• be able to achieve greater independence
• report that they are able to maintain good health
• remain within a home of their own

The intention is to define overarching outcomes which can be applied across health and social care provision and where those outcomes can only be achieved by health and social care working together.

Please download the document to see the full vision.