Charnwood Borough Council - Leading in Leicestershire

Charnwood Health Forum is a group of organisations working in partnership to improve the health and well being of the people of the Borough.

Why "health & well being"?

Ill health impacts on individual's quality of life and on families and on communities. Some differences in health are unavoidable but many are not, and are due to social, economic and environmental factors. The root causes of these health inequalities are found in the wider structure of our society, often beyond the reach of the NHS. So 'health' as an aim of the Forum does not equate to solely to 'treatment' but primarily to those root causes and the resulting health inequalities.

The Forum's Terms of Reference

• To promote co-ordinated strategies and projects for improving the health of Charnwood people
• To contribute to health needs assessments of the people of Charnwood and to the identification of local priorities and appropriate interventions
• To create effective partnerships between individuals, organisations and agencies to tackle health issues and health inequalities
• To recognise the close relationship between health and social care provision in all the Forum's activities
• To facilitate the flow of information between groups within health and well-being networks.
• To influence key strategies and plans so that they reflect health and well being best practice and local priorities
• To monitor the implementation and impact of strategies and initiatives.
• To respond, where appropriate, to national, regional and other consultations concerning health and well-being and related matters

Annual priorities

In August/ September each year the Forum will consider and agree those health issues that it will treat as priorities for the forth-coming year, based on local health needs and emerging issues. This timing is chosen to enable the Forum's review to feed into the planning by agencies and organisations for the next financial year.

Structure

The Forum will hold regular meetings on a quarterly basis. It may host additional events to consider specific issues as required.