For this session, Nikki Teesdale will outline how Medway and Swale are responding to worsening health inequalities through a whole-system Social Regeneration model rooted in Population Health Management (PHM).
Recent data shows a growing number of indicators in the region performing worse than the England average, particularly in coastal and post-industrial communities.
Rising rates of self-harm among young people, long-term condition prevalence, economic inactivity linked to mental health, and the correlation between low income and A&E attendance reinforce a clear message: clinical services alone cannot close the gap.
Social Regeneration reframes health as a product of housing, education, employment, environment and community cohesion, not just healthcare delivery. Using PHM analytics to target need, we aligned primary care improvement, housing providers, creative sectors, VCSEF partners, education institutions and employment programmes into a coordinated prevention model.
Early outcomes demonstrated impact at scale, including significant reductions in emergency attendance for children with asthma, proactive identification of undiagnosed long-term conditions, measurable reductions in acute service use through social prescribing, and strengthened employment pathways in coastal communities.
This session will explore:
- How data-led PHM can translate into structural, place-based prevention
- The role of universities and research partners in evaluating and scaling creative and community health interventions
- Addressing coastal poverty as a health strategy
- Moving from pilot projects to sustainable system transformation
This session offers a practical example of how prevention, economic renewal and population health can be integrated into a single strategic framework that is scalable and can make a real difference to the communities we serve.
Nikki is the former Director of Health and Care Integration and Improvement within the Medway and Swale Health and Care Partnership. A nurse by background, Nikki’s priority is to provide clear and visible strategic leadership, working collaboratively with partners to offer innovative solutions to complex issues that impact the health and wellbeing of people in our communities. Her priority is to support systems to radically rethink how we support our communities’ health and wellbeing through an authentic commitment to working together to build capacity and resilience in our communities. She prides herself at her ability to develop effective working relationships between the statutory and public sectors and voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors to enable populations and communities to come together with a common purpose to develop new ways of working.
