THE devolved approach to health and social care is centred on the belief that problems in Greater Manchester cannot be tackled by those in London.

This is what Jon Rouse, chief officer of the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership (GMHSCP) told Bolton health bosses.

Going right back to the beginning he said explained the GMHSCP had its roots in a study commissioned by councils in 2008.

He said: "The 10 local authorities had commissioned a really important study into the economy in Greater Manchester and where they were. It came back with some pretty tough messages on ways the poor health of Greater Manchester was acting as a serious drag in terms of the economy."

The study told leaders more than 100,000 people were out of work with ill health, children were behind cognitively and emotionally when they started school and life expectancy differed wildly between areas only a few miles apart, some times by as much as 12 years.

Mr Rouse said: "Our view is these problems couldn’t be solved by someone making decisions in Whitehall or Skipton House. We had to bring these decisions into our localities and neighbourhoods.

"That’s why we asked for devolution in 2016."

A five year plan was put in place called Taking Charge and this is ongoing now. It includes efforts to get the whole of public services working together to make sure the £22 billion spent on public services improves health while improving things like transport. Mr Rouse gave the example of improving dangerous junctions making walking somewhere or going for a run more attractive.

Taking Charge includes aims like getting more babies born at a healthy weight, getting children ready for school and making Manchester an attractive place to live and work.

He said: "We’re two-and-a-half-years in and devolution we want for keeps."

Where funding has helped in Bolton

  • BOLTON TOY LIBRARY­—The charity based at Harvey Children’s Centre in Shaw Street, used money to run mother and baby groups to help parents socialise as some become isolated after a child is born. The group helps parents access support and advice while children get the chance to play.
  • BOLTON CVS ­— The volunteer service used some of the transformation funding to set up the asset navigators program.These are new roles which match people with groups which might improve their lives. For example social groups or cookery classes.
  • HEALTHWATCH BOLTON­—The patient feedback service used funding to map out what is available where in Bolton. For example, the numbers of pharmacists in an area. It also collected information about what areas need what services to help improve patient access and find out what stops people visiting them, for example transport.
  • GP FEDERATION­—Funding has helped the group establish a third hub in the town for out of hours GP access. Devolution funding has enabled out of hours access to patient records so doctors will be briefed on a patient’s history 24 hours a day seven days a week all year round.