One Ilfracombe

What is it about?

Public sector services have evolved into such fragmented and complex units that they hinder the ability of those who most need them to benefit from them. The experience of One Ilfracombe demonstrates that adding more to an already complex system of service provision is not the answer. This paper examines the principles that enabled one town to adopt a person-centred, whole-system approach, the barriers it overcame and those that remain.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

Narrowing the health inequality gap in the UK remains a significant challenge that can only be properly addressed by a sea change in the way public services are delivered. Although social and economic determinants of health are acknowledged, public services are not organised in a way that adequately addresses these factors. In addition, the inefficiencies of the public sector when viewed as a whole are significant. In the absence of guidance, one town recognised the circumstances contributing to its stark health inequalities and set out to address them using a set of transferable principles. The findings from this work could contribute to the establishment of national cross-sector guidance for implementing place-based systems of health and wellbeing.