Recently we attended the NHS Prevention Pledge Summit which brought together people from 17 NHS trusts across Cheshire and Merseyside to share best practices and celebrate positive work.

Nathan Hearn our partnership and integration manager for the area joined colleagues on the day from local primary care trusts, the integrated care board (ICB), public health and government authorities, NHS England, and members of the voluntary sector.

The NHS Prevention Pledge is a key workstream within the Cheshire and Merseyside ICB Population Health Programme. The Pledge has been developed and rolled out by public health charity, Health Equalities Group, and is currently being adopted by all 17 provider trusts across the region, including ourselves.

Adoption of the Pledge provides trusts with a framework of 14 core commitments to address and measure impact on the following themes: prevention of physical and mental ill health; social value and anchor institutions; health inequalities; staff health and wellbeing, quality improvement, and, working with partners at place to prevent readmission.

The NHS Prevention Pledge is helping NWAS to facilitate the wider roll-out of a successful initiative which uses ambulance data to identify patients with previously undiagnosed high blood pressure. By working together with other NHS Prevention Pledge signatories, we will also be offering free cardiovascular health checks for NWAS staff at an upcoming Health and Wellbeing event.  

Our Medical Director Chris Grant, said: “We are thrilled to be a part of this piece of work and the Pledge echoes some of the main elements of our strategy and core values as an ambulance service. We look forward to contributing to helping address widespread preventable illness and inequalities in health in the area.”