Joint Strategic Needs Assessment

What is a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment?

A Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) is an ongoing process by which Primary Care Trusts, local authorities and other public sector partners jointly describe the current and future health and wellbeing needs of its local population and identify priorities for action.

The JSNA is not just about health and personal social care services; it is also about the wider aspects of health including poverty, employment, education, public safety, housing and the environment.

The ultimate purpose of the JSNA process is to use the information gathered to identify local priorities and support commissioners to commission services and interventions that are based on need, which will in turn achieve better health and wellbeing outcomes and reduce health inequalities.

Who is responsible for the JSNA?

The JSNA is a statutory responsibility of the Director of Public Health, Director of Children’s Services and Director of Adult Social Services.

Camden’s joint strategic needs assessment (JSNA)

NHS Camden and Camden Council published its first JSNA document in 2008 which summarized existing needs assessments.

The 2010 JSNA

includes intelligence about the wider determinants of health including deprivation, employment, education, crime and housing to describe a picture of health and wellbeing amongst Camden’s population.
includes the core dataset not just as a snapshot but with trends on outcomes and where possible future projections on demand for health services.
benchmarks key outcome against PCTs most similar to Camden and London and England.
includes references to evidence of effective interventions.

The JSNA process will continue to be developed under the auspices of the Health and Wellbeing Board.

In the future Camden’s data observatory will be the mechanism through which all partners (residents, voluntary and community sector, the council, health partners and other local strategic partners) will be able to access all information relating to the health and wellbeing needs of Camden’s residents.