The My Life A Full Life programme is calling on Islanders to help shape the future of the Isle of Wight’s health and care services.
The call comes as the programme publishes a new leaflet – Caring for our Island: Time to act – which sets out some of the significant challenges facing the Island and why everyone should get involved in shaping the changes to come. The pressures facing the Island mean that health and care services will have to look at doing things differently in the future.
My Life A Full Life is a collaboration of health, care and voluntary sector organisations which has already been working with the community to develop initiatives which enable people to be more in control of their own health, wellbeing and care needs. This approach aims to enable organisations to work more effectively, deliver health and care services in the way that people want and plan for increasing demands in the future.
Changes to the way people live and want to access care, combined with some of the financial challenges faced by the Island, mean that there is a need to consider how we’re providing care and what we want from the system in the future.
This call to action marks the start of the next phase for My Life A Full Life as it undertakes a review of the Island’s system of health and care in the coming months. The team now wants to hear from members of the public about their views on what matters to them and what they think might need to change.
People can visit www.mylifeafulllife.com to comment online or can pick up a leaflet at a number of council and NHS locations around the Island. The first in a number of public events are also being held on 21st and 22nd March, in Shanklin and Newport, where people can find out more. A formal consultation setting out proposals for change is planned for later in the year.
David Newton, lay chair of the My Life A Full Life redesign programme, said:
“These are just the first events in what we hope will be an Island-wide discussion into how we can work together to reshape health and care services. We know there are pressures on health and care services and we know that people want our health and care system to change, so we are now inviting everyone to take this opportunity to join in the discussion.”
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Councillor Steve Stubbings, Isle of Wight Council deputy leader and cabinet member for social care and integration, said:
“We know that finances are tight at the moment, but this is about planning for the longer-term as demand on services increases as people grow older. My Life A Full Life now aims to work out how best to manage our resources to meet people’s needs and deliver the improvements they want to see.”
Dr John Rivers, chair of Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group, said:
“There are a number of challenges facing our health and care services – and they are continuing to grow. Without change some people may struggle to the level of care they need, but this is also an opportunity to look at things again and get it right. A chance to ensure everyone on the Island can access the services they need, in the way that they want.”
