12.1 A healthy population is an essential component of a sustainable Salford. This is of huge importance in its own right, given its major impact on the quality of life. Salford currently suffers from very significant health inequalities, and average health levels in the city are much worse than the national average. Typical life expectancy for Salford residents is three years less than for England as a whole, and with average life expectancy in the city’s most deprived areas is 10.6 years lower for men and 10.3 years lower for women than in its least deprived areas(16).
12.2 Securing significant health improvements must therefore be a major priority for the Local Plan, and health considerations need to be integrated into all aspects of the plan. If this is not successfully achieved then it is difficult to see how any development strategy for the city could be considered ‘sustainable’.
12.3 The Local Plan will contribute to the delivery of better health and a reduction in health inequalities in a wide variety of ways, many of which are addressed in other chapters of the document, including by:
Reference:
(16) “Salford Health Profile 2015” – Public Health England (2015)
Improvements in the quality and accessibility of primary health care facilities will be supported, including the co-location of GP practices where this would help to deliver more positive health outcomes.
Opportunities to co-locate new primary health care facilities with other public facilities should be taken wherever possible.
Major new housing development should incorporate health care facilities where it would generate a significant additional demand that cannot satisfactorily be located within the local area.
Reasoned justification
12.4 A key element in transforming the delivery of primary care within Salford will be the improvement and rationalisation of existing facilities. Salford has a wide range of premises from which primary care service are delivered, ranging from purpose-built primary care centres to converted residential properties. Historically in Salford there has been a relatively high proportion of small and single-handed GP practices (i.e. practices consisting of one GP as a sole-practitioner), albeit that there is evidence that this is starting to change with a number of recent practice mergers. It is also recognised that there is variation in the quality of service provision across the city which needs to be addressed.
12.5 Salford Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has identified that whilst a number of neighbourhoods are well served by modern purpose-built healthcare facilities, there are parts of the city where improved facilities are required. This will be important in the context of realising the vision for primary care services by transferring the delivery of all care that does not require hospital facilities to a neighbourhood setting that is more accessible to patients.
12.6 At the same time, the scale of additional housing proposed in the Local Plan will increase the pressure on existing health facilities. Improving the overall quality of Salford’s primary care facilities will therefore be important, and this should also help to reduce pressure on hospital facilities.
12.7 Primary health care facilities should be located within centres wherever possible, although it is recognised that this may not always be appropriate depending on the intended catchment of the facility. In recent years, several Gateway Centres have been delivered within the city, involving the co-location of a range of primary health care facilities with other community uses such as libraries. This approach is considered to have been very successful, and future proposals involving the co-location of facilities will be strongly encouraged.
The role of Salford Royal Hospital as both a local facility for the city’s residents and a regional centre of excellence will be further enhanced.
Development proposals for the hospital should:
Reasoned justification
12.8 Salford Royal is a large and busy teaching hospital, with around 850 in-patient beds, employing over 7,000 staff, and providing a comprehensive range of services to the population of Salford as well as a wider range of specialist services for people from the rest of Greater Manchester and beyond(17).
12.9 A comprehensive programme of redevelopment has recently been undertaken at Salford Royal to deliver high quality new facilities. It is likely that further improvements to the hospital will be required over the Local Plan period, and it is essential that this ongoing enhancement process is supported so as to ensure that the city’s residents have access to the highest possible quality of healthcare facilities. A coordinated site development strategy will play an important role in this, helping to ensure that the hospital site functions as efficiently and effectively as possible, high design standards are achieved, and the impacts on neighbouring communities are minimised particularly in terms of traffic generation and car parking. The implementation of an ambitious travel plan will be vital, so as to maximise the use of more sustainable transport modes and minimise the land needed for visitor and staff car parking.
Reference:
(17) “Annual Report and Accounts: 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015” – Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, p7.
Monitoring
12.9 The main indicators that will be used to monitor this chapter are:
| Indicator | Target |
| Average life expectancy at birth | Increase (2015-2035) |
| Gap between average life expectancy at birth in Salford and the national average | Decrease 2015-2035) |
| Gap between average life expectancy at birth in the worst-performing Salford wards and the national average | Decrease (2015-2035) |