Our vision

We will do this by:

• Start well, live well, age well — Supporting people in Surrey Heartlands to be healthier.
• Best care, where and when you need it — Providing high quality and accessible care when people need it.
• One team, one Surrey Heartlands — Developing partnerships that work better for residents and those who provide care.

Thinking about the longer-term, our plans also include:

• a much greater focus on prevention to help people stay well wherever possible
• earlier intervention to make sure people get the care and support they need as early as possible
• tackling health inequalities and the other areas that affect people’s health and wellbeing (known as the wider determinants of health) which includes things like housing, poverty, air pollution and education where it’s clear we need to work together as partners to address these areas.

Surrey is already one of the healthiest places to live in England. Our services also perform well with most health and care providers rated good or outstanding. 

Yet there are big differences between what most of us experience and what some of us can expect, with a 12-year gap in life expectancy depending on where you live. And because most people in Surrey are living longer, that means more people living with ill health and conditions such as dementia, social isolation and loneliness.

We know that medical care alone will only ever impact about 20% of someone’s health and wellbeing; the rest (the wider determinants of health) is influenced by factors such as education, housing, employment, the environment and personal characteristics, such as race.

As a partnership, we want to create a health and care system that builds on the amazing community spirit we’ve witnessed during the pandemic.  One that values the role of the local community, as well as organisations, and enables people to take more control of their health and wellbeing, with easy access to high-quality care when it’s needed.

With a focus on prevention and support that’s targeted where it’s most needed, we will reduce the unfairness some people experience in accessing care, so nobody is left behind.  At the same time, we want to take advantage of what we have in Surrey to pursue innovation with business, public sector partners and communities, joining up services for residents and developing digital technologies to create smarter ways of managing health and accessing support.

With an important role in the community as the largest employer, a major purchaser of goods and services and recognising our duty towards addressing climate change, we want to create opportunities for people to work and volunteer with us.  Making sure we involve our workforce and local people in co-designing services so that together, we continue to support the people of Surrey Heartlands to live healthier lives.