DATA Play 5 challenges

Thrive Plymouth

We know a lot about the health inequalities in the city and over the next 12 months we are going to be localising a national campaign (One You) which aims to re-engage adults with their health.

• How can we remove barriers to change physical activity/health eating/smoking cessation and excessive alcohol consumption?
• How can we build from the ‘One You’ apps (which are related to the Thrive agenda)?

Helping services provide better care to those with complex needs

There are around 20 local providers of health and social care services. A particular challenge is information sharing around needs and risk, as we know that a large proportion of complex needs service users are accessing more than one service in order to get their needs met. Each service has its own case management system and at present there is no easy and efficient way to share data. There is likely to be a specific procurement process in the New Year for this challenge.

• How can services help each other to recognise patients with complex needs for example multiples of homelessness, mental health, substance misuse and offending?

Reducing unnecessary GP visits

The average number of contacts a patient has with their GP or their surgery’s healthcare team has risen steadily over the last five years without additional cash or GPs. This leads to significant pressures on the frontline. National research has suggested that as many as one in six contacts could be seen elsewhere. There are a number of alternative sources of help available, for example Community Pharmacy, NHS Choices. NHS England are trying to encourage patients to self-care wherever possible, but we also know that there are many people who do not like ‘to bother the doctor’ so don’t want to put people off visiting if they need to.

• What ideas do you have for reducing unnecessary demand?

Diabetic passports

Sentinel is looking to implement a diabetes passport but there are a number of challenges including availability of infrastructure and connectivity across West Devon, South Hams, Plymouth and South East Cornwall. In addition people need to feel comfortable that their data is being used in an appropriate way. However, the benefits could be immense in terms of linking healthy lifestyles to our natural environment and opportunities for people to access facilities they may not have done before.

• How can we implement and support the use of diabetic passports?

The moment of change

The ‘moment of change’ is a moment in someone’s life where there’s a clear point of change that could be levered to help them make good lifestyle choices, for example moving into a new home with Plymouth Community Homes.

• How could data and technology be used to support this work?
• How to best utilise ‘the moment of change’ to help health and wellbeing?

Fitbits

Currently the simplest version of a fitbit is £20 which is outside some people’s budgets. We would like to be able to give away free fitbits to certain categories of people. The Tracker measures steps taken, and combines it with user data to calculate distance walked, calories burned, floors climbed and activity duration and intensity. The Fitbit Classic tracked only steps taken, distance travelled, calories burned, activity intensity and sleep.

• Is there any way to create a cheaper version of a fitbit?
• Is there another way we can utilise existing fitbits?

Understanding our food environment

The University has created a standardised method for measuring the food environment, but it has only been used in two wards in the city (St Budeaux and Plympton) we need all the other wards to be surveyed. We have geographical location of all food premises in Plymouth. We have standardised list of foods which make up a healthy basket. We have health and deprivation data for wards/neighbourhoods and LSOAs.

• How can we develop a tool to gather our food environment data?

Waste food

• Can we explore any opportunities for a ‘Deliveroo’ system for waste food from food premises in the city to transport it to the premises that can use it?

Air quality monitors

• Is there any way to create a cheaper air quality monitor for use in our residential neighbourhoods?

Other

• How could we reduce visits to A&E
• How can we support social prescribing?
• How can we support the creation of Health Hubs?
• How can we make best help sentinel support patients?

This work is supported by the Department for Communities and Local Government through Delivering Differently in Neighbourhoods funding and Local Planning Reform funding.