REGIONAL HEALTH CONCORDAT LAUNCHED

AN AGREEMENT to work more closely together to improve health in the South East has been signed by regional agencies and strategic health authorities.

A regional health summit was held on Monday 1 December 2003, chaired by the South East England Regional Assembly. Chairs of Strategic Health Authorities, the South East England Development Agency, the Regional Assembly, the Regional Director of Public Health and the Director of the Government Office for the South East signed a concordat to:

• Emphasise the central importance of the health agenda to all organisations across South East England;
  
  
• Recognise and optimise the contribution the health sector has to the region’s economy;
  
  
• Join up thinking, monitor progress and initiate appropriate action;
  
  
• Identify specific initiatives to sponsor.

Recruitment and retention issues in the health sector will receive particular attention under the new agreement to joint working. The NHS employs around 140,000 people across the region and thousands more work for NHS contractors. The Summit focused particularly on the development needs of the lowest paid.

Mike Gill, Regional Director of Public Health in the South East said: "The Government is investing increasing sums of public money in the NHS. The NHS is a huge employer and will remain so. It has direct responsibility for the livelihoods of many thousands of people and their families across the South East. It is obviously vital that the NHS is a ‘model’ employer, and does all it can to develop the skills of its own workforce, both as an important part of the Government’s policy to reduce health inequalities and to ease the severe recruitment and retention pressures experienced in the South East."

Cllr Nick Skellett, Chair of the South East England Regional Assembly, stated: "Improving the health and well-being of the population and reducing health inequalities can only be achieved if we all pull together to common goals. Economic development, land use planning, education and investment in community infrastructure all need to be joined together if we are to achieve sustainable communities. "

Contact

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Alex Butlin, PR Executive - 01483 555221

Notes to editors:

1. The Regional Assembly is the “voluntary regional chamber” for the South East. It was established in January 1999 to give a representative voice to the South East region which covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East and West Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, and Surrey.
2. The Assembly is made up of 111 members including elected councillors nominated by the region’s local authorities and 37 representatives from other sectors of the community (including business, trades unions, education, housing, health, sports, culture, tourism, faith groups, environmental, community and voluntary organisations).
3. The Assembly has three areas of core business:
1. It is the representative voice of the South East, engaging and representing its member organisations and, through them, the wider public.
2. The Assembly has a specific role under the Regional Development Agencies' Act 1998 to ensure the accountability of the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) to the region.
3. The Assembly has been the Regional Planning Body for the South East since April 2001. It has responsibility for proposing strategic planning and transport policies to Government.

Last updated: 21 August 2007