To brief the Health and Wellbeing Board members on the key features of the Wye Valley NHS Trust’s Five to Ten Year Strategy.

Sarah Shingler introduced the report and provided an overview of the Wye Valley NHS Trust (WVT) Five to Ten Year Strategy, as adopted by the WVT Trust Board on 2 April 2026. 

The main points included:

a.           The purpose was ‘To improve the wellbeing, independence and health of the people we serve’; the mission was ‘We give everyone the quality of care we would want for ourselves, our families and friends’; and the vision was ‘Together with our partners, we will shape the future of healthcare alongside our communities – ensuring everyone experiences outstanding, seamless care in our hospitals and closer to home’. 

It was noted that the strategy aligned closely with council priorities around prevention, independence and community-based approaches.

b.           The interconnected priority areas were outlined, as follows: ‘Being a supportive employer’, promoting an inclusive and caring organisational culture; ‘Innovating to improve care’, accelerating digital and data-enabled change; ‘Strengthening our services’, particularly around urgent and emergency care, and reducing waiting times for surgery; ‘Treating people in the right place’, shifting focus from acute to community, reflecting the neighbourhood health model; and ‘Delivering on our responsibilities’, by being an effective partner, planning for the end of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract in 2029, and supporting wider sustainability goals.

c.           The strategy reinforced the importance of: strong NHS-local authority and VCSE (voluntary, community and social enterprise) collaboration, particularly around prevention, community services and frailty; shared place-based planning through the One Herefordshire Health and Care Partnership Board; joint workforce, digital and sustainability approaches; and co-design with communities to ensure services meet local needs.

In response to questions from the Chairperson, Sarah Shingler explained: how an enhanced discharge team had reduced avoidable admissions in December 2025; work on end of life care pathways; and the preparation of a business case for investment in additional multi-disciplinary staff.

In response to questions from the Leader of the Council, Sarah Shinger advised that: the strategy was designed for a period of five years but there was a need for flexibility given changing circumstances; urgent and emergency care improvements were being made tangible by collaborating with health, care and other partners; discussions were ongoing with the Powys system to help decrease preventable admissions and the amount of time patients spent in hospital; consideration was being given to potential measurable improvements in outcomes arising from the strategy and an update on progress could be provided in six months; the neighbourhood health model was key to transforming the approach to reducing attendances, redesigning pathways, and moving activity safely out to communities.

David Mehaffey commented that the strategy reflected the key shifts in national strategy but questioned whether objectives around reducing health inequalities should be made more explicit.  Sarah Shingler confirmed that these would be detailed under ‘Delivering on responsibilities’.

Dr Lauren Parry said that Herefordshire General Practice welcomed the collaborative approach and involvement in neighbourhood health workstreams, with work being undertaken on pathways and inequalities.

In response to a question from the Chairperson, Sarah Shingler confirmed that WVT’s Chief Strategy and Planning Officer was involved in conversations about the government requirement to plan for 27,260 new homes in Herefordshire.

Stephen Brewster commented on the benefits of physical activity for people at risk of developing frailty and there was a brief discussion about this in the context of upstream prevention.

Resolved:  That the contents of the report be noted.