Understanding what helps health and care services thrive in underserved communities is central to the Workforce Voices programme. The newly published Deep End Network North East and North Cumbria (NENC) report offers valuable insights into these challenges, demonstrating how collaboration between healthcare teams, researchers and local communities can support more equitable and sustainable approaches to care.
Published alongside a new animation and two community developed infographics, the report tells the story of the network’s development since 2020 and its growth to more than 50 practices serving some of the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods in North East and North Cumbria.
General practice and public health teams, researchers and local communities have worked together through the network to address health inequalities and improve health and wellbeing. A central theme of the report is the importance of working in partnership with communities, ensuring that local people help shape priorities, services and solutions that reflect their experiences and needs.
Supported by researchers from Newcastle University, the Deep End Network has also contributed to initiatives focused on childhood vaccination uptake, improving access to mental health support, reducing reliance on strong pain medications, and helping practices respond to wider issues affecting health and wellbeing, including housing and financial concerns.
Dr Sarah Sowden, NENC Deep End Research Programme and Public Health lead at Newcastle University said “The report shares our co-design and evaluation research, explores what we are doing across the network, and shows how we work together to create positive change for our practices, patients and communities. We are delighted to be sharing our journey with others and hope that the Deep End model can continue to grow, spread to other areas, and benefit more communities, patients, and frontline staff”.
The report, animation and infographics provide valuable insights into community-centred approaches to tackling health inequalities and offer learning for anyone interested in the future sustainability of health and care services in underserved communities.
Resources
- Read the report
- Watch the animation
- Patients as partners infographic
- Insights from the community infographic
As a programme exploring workforce sustainability in underserved areas, Workforce Voices is pleased to share learning from colleagues across the region whose work highlights the value of collaboration between communities, practitioners and researchers in creating more sustainable approaches to health and care.
