The North East Essex region has the unfortunate paradox of hosting one of the best performing Integrated Care Systems in the country, while at the same time presiding over a population that has the UK’s worst deprivation statistics. Under these circumstances, the partners in this project had to take a wholly unorthodox approach to tackling their challenges.
With the goal of improving public health statistics in the seaside town of Clacton, the North East Essex programme goes against the grain of some areas of government policy. Clacton is less than two hours from London by train in the otherwise relatively prosperous region of Essex, in the South East of England – yet no place could be more fittingly described as “left behind”.
The Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care System, Essex County Council and Tendring District Council have come together on this project to address the issue of Clacton’s “wider determinants of health” – often referred to as the “causes of the causes” of poor health. Ultimately, the partners’ focus was levelled at employment and economic activity.
Clacton Place Sessions
The Clacton Place workshop session on 19th February with local partners and national stakeholders induced a significant unity of purpose in improving the plight of Clacton. Focus groups with local residents revealed a pride in their community tempered by a despair that truly meaningful work is so difficult to come by. An absence of major industry and Clacton’s geographical isolation has left career paths incomplete, with a huge proportion of productive workers ending up in either Colchester or London.
The focus of the project continues to be on securing public investment in order to stimulate growth and generate a multiplier effect within local, regional and national industry. The prime building block for this activity is the health and social care academy planned for Clacton, which could be elevated into a national centre for a new health and care workforce.
