Who we are
Driving collaboration, promoting innovation, supporting good health.
Our role
NHS Somerset is responsible for commissioning health and care services for our 580,000 residents. We play a pivotal role in bringing organisations together to work as one integrated care system (ICS), for Somerset.
An ICS is a partnership between the NHS, local council, voluntary services and other organisations working together to plan and deliver joined up services to improve the lives of people in our area.
We all are aware that the NHS and care services are under severe pressure, caused by staff shortages, the impact of COVID-19 and rising demand associated with more people living longer but often in ill-health, reducing their independence and quality of life. In Somerset, this gap between the time that people ‘live well’ and their overall life expectancy is on average 17 years.
However it is even longer than this in some of the more deprived parts of our county. In other words, an increasing number of people will experience almost two decades of ill health, or poor quality of life, before they die. That gap is bigger than the England average and we need this to change.
This is our mission
Driving collaboration, promoting innovation, supporting good health.
We will drive collaboration between the NHS, Somerset Council and our voluntary sector partners to improve the health and wellbeing of people in Somerset. We will listen to our residents and work with communities to develop innovative ways to prevent people from becoming unwell, whilst also delivering high quality services when people need them.
Our Vision
We are NHS Somerset
Our Vision and Values
Our vision
We want all people in Somerset to live in thriving communities and have healthy and fulfilling lives from birth, through to adulthood and into old age. We want people to live well for longer than they do now.
Our Values
The values that lie at the heart of the work of NHS Somerset are:
- think innovatively about how best to use the resources that we have to come up with improved ways to deliver our particular service
- identify opportunities to improve procedure and practice within our own roles
- support efforts by colleagues, providers, Somerset and nationally to improve the quality of service provision across the NHS
- encourage, enable and role model working across organisational boundaries
- develop positive relationships with colleagues through the use of local networks and joint working
- share best practice and learning from mistakes with colleagues openly, in order to improve the service we provide
- take the time to listen to those around us
- contribute to delivering person centred care, putting the patient at the heart of everything we do
- build relationships built on mutual trust, openness and understanding with colleagues, internal and external, service providers, patients and other stakeholders
- take personal responsibility for ensuring that we contribute to the provision of excellent, safe, high quality service to others
- have courage to challenge others if a decision is being made which may have a negative impact on patients, colleagues or other stakeholders
- commit to learning and developing ourselves within our roles, to provide the best possible service to those we work with and for
- seek, reflect on and learn from feedback from colleagues, internal and external, and service users
- understand our own limitations and know when it is the right time to ask for help or advice
- are honest and transparent and are not afraid to say if we have made a mistake
