Health Needs Assessment

Swansea's Health Social Care and Well-being (HSCWB) Needs Assessment

A Health Needs Assessment revision for Swansea has been brought together, by the City and County of Swansea and ABM Health Board along with partners. The aim of the Needs Assessment is to identify what areas of Health, Social Care and Well Being in Swansea aren't being met, in a systematic way. The assessment has also helped to inform the draft Health, Social Care & Well Being Strategy 2011-14.

Two previous Health Needs Assessments for Swansea have been carried out in 2003 and 2007, which both helped to inform and measure the first two rounds of the Health, Social Care and Wellbeing Strategies in Swansea. The full 2007 Needs Assessment can be found by following the link on the left of the page. 

What is a Needs Assessment?

A Needs Assessment is a systematic method for reviewing the health, social care and well-being issues facing a population, leading to agreed priorities and resource allocation that will improve health and well-being and reduce inequalities.

The Swansea HSCWB Needs Assessment has brought together and interpreted the health, social care and well-being issues facing the Swansea population. It has identified the HSCWB needs of the whole population of Swansea.

It involved bringing together a wide range of information from sources including the census, information from hospitals and doctors surgeries on illnesses and diseases experienced by the Swansea population and death rates.  In addition it has drawn together information on services, organisations and projects which have an impact on people's health and well-being.

How was the Swansea HSCWB Needs Assessment done?

It compared and balanced the different needs so that priorities could be selected.  In supporting improvements in the future, there is a balance to be made between "What should be done in Swansea?", "What can be done in Swansea?" and "What can be afforded in Swansea?".  In considering the balance of these issues, the following questions are used as a guide;

• Impact - which issues have the most affect with the most people?
• Changeability - which of the biggest health, social care and well-being problems can be changed effectively?
• Acceptability - what are the most acceptable ways to achieve the biggest changes to improve health?
• Resources - is enough funding available to make the required changes?

Limitations

The HSCWB Needs Assessment collects information from many sources.  It has been arranged into several written documents with different levels of detail.  Whilst the information was as up to date and accurate as possible at the time it was written, services and staff can change quickly and certain pieces of information may not be current now.  The intention is to update the needs assessment on an annual basis provided that new information is available.  Some of the more detailed information from specific areas of the HSCWB needs assessment may contain views strongly expressed by individuals and professionals, which other individuals and professionals might disagree with.

You can look at the 2007 Executive Summary, Summary or the full Needs Assessment by clicking on the links below.  This file is in PDF Format and you will need to download Adobe Reader to view them, if you do not already have it.  The summary can be made available in other languages and formats, including word documents, large print, audio ect.

 Executive Summary [4.0Mb]      

 Summary [6.2Mb]         

Health and Social Care Needs Assessment 2007