Anchoring on the coast: co-designing an anchor framework Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Coastal communities have different challenges to urban communities and many existing frameworks on how anchor organisations can improve their social value do not necessarily apply to coastal areas.

Communities living on the Fylde Coast, which comprises Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre, experience wide inequalities in health and wealth. Blackpool is the most deprived local authority in England and eight of England’s 10 most deprived small areas are in Blackpool. Being a coastal area adds additional dimensions to high levels of deprivation, due to longstanding challenges in the economy and employment.

The links between employment and health are well evidenced, and the role of anchor institutions in this context is therefore important. This project led by Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (BTH) involved the development of a framework to allow BTH to use its economic power as an employer of 7,500 staff with turnover of £552 million to contribute to the economic, environmental and social fabric of the Fylde Coast and reduce health inequalities.

Four community researchers worked with BTH’s research team to co-design an anchor framework. The researchers worked with stakeholders and communities facing multiple disadvantages across the Fylde Coast, to understand the challenges faced in these communities and how the trust can discharge its responsibility as an anchor organisation to better the lives of those living in the Fylde Coast and working for the trust.

The resulting framework has been approved by the trust board and the Blackpool Place Based Partnership and there is a commitment to taking the work forward and embedding the principles in upcoming work. The framework has also been shared with other anchor partnerships and health inequalities leads.

Downloads/links

• Health Anchors learning network case study

Contact details

For more information about this project, please contact Dr Heather Catt, Consultant in Public Health, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.