In our Better Way group “Collaborating Around Place-Based Health and Wellbeing”, we’ve been reflecting on the recent rise in national policy ambitions surrounding “neighbourhoods” including the NHS’s new 10-year plan, which focuses in part on establishing local physical “Neighbourhood Health Services”.  In a nutshell this appears to mean co-locating “neighbourhood teams”, bringing tests, post-operative care, nursing and mental health services closer to people’s homes and lives.  This also includes the NHS’s new ‘online hospital’ idea, set to launch in 2027, which should allow people more choice and direction over their own care, avoiding unnecessary time sitting around and getting stuck in hospitals.

Many aspects of all of this sound great, a promise for accessible, one-stop health and care hubs which should make it easier for people to connect with joined up health services locally instead of in hospitals. It’s a bold, tangible step forward and especially valuable for those of us who face (or who support people with) barriers to complex systems and travel.

However, we also think that if the neighbourhood health vision stops at apps, co-location, buildings, professionals and delivery, we will miss a major opportunity to understand what impact our neighbourhoods themselves are having on our health and wellbeing.  As we’ve been exploring together, health and wellbeing is not simply the product of our institutions, however modern or local they may be.  

For us, the Better Way principles and behaviours really matter here, and have united us in our thinking around this. They remind us that leadership in neighbourhood health must be about sharing power, not hoarding it. It must start from the strengths of local people and organisations, not treating citizens and groups as an afterthought or a transactional partner.   A healthy, safe and accessible natural environment must play a part in supporting good health too - from how clean the air and water are, to whether people can get about, and our access to wildlife-filled spaces and places.  Success for all of this should be measured in terms of connection, belonging, and purpose, not just throughput, contracts, or capital investment.

Across the UK there are thousands of community-based organisations who run activities and programmes involving people with need to draw upon them whilst simultaneously benefitting greatly from their skills and contribution too. When supported and properly funded, these community-based offers and groups don’t cost much, have a significant impact on health and represent real value for money.  This is illustrated by the recent UK Community Foundations publication “Preventative Power: Community Foundations Blueprint for Better Health.” For example, community-run walking groups that reduce isolation, art and music clubs that boost confidence and wellbeing, or gardening and conservation projects that improve both physical health and local environments.

Neighbourhood Health should be about what happens when people are supported to be active contributors in their own places, enabling lives to flourish.  Equally, truly preventative approaches rely on nurturing the assets in a local community - the people, the spaces and places, the groups and activities (see Robbie’s story here: link or Karen’s here: link )

In summary, we say let us not confuse delivering services locally with nurturing neighbourhood health. The first can be achieved with new buildings and professional teams. The second requires humility, courage, and a willingness to think, lead and engage differently. It means trusting people, sharing power, and working alongside communities as equal partners.  The members of the Better Way movement are available as a unique resource to help shape policy and design that reflects our principles.  For now, we’ll continue doing the good work we are individually and collectively in service of neighbourhood health.

Continuing the discussion

If this blog has resonated with you and you want to continue the discussion with like-minded others, here are ways you can get involved:

• Our Place-Based Health and Wellbeing Better Way Group will be diving into more detail at the Better Way Annual Conference on 7 November 2025 (sign up here) and the in-person gathering in London on 6 November 2025 (sign up here). If you want to get more actively involved in the group, please email Lucia at info@betterway.network

• A Better Way is also part of the #DoWith movement. Through this, colleagues Simon Sherbersky and Matt Bell have set up a series of #DoWith Neighbourhood conversations (the next is the 16 October, 1–2.30pm: register here)

This piece was written as a collaboration between Better Way members:

·       Michelle Cooper (Point North)

·       Dom Higgins (The Wildlife Trusts)

·       Simon Sherbersky (SPINDL C.I.C)

·       Matt Bell (Plymouth Octopus Project - POP)

·       Will Nicholson (A Better Way)

·       Nick Sinclair (Community Catalysts C.I.C)