Our 2026–2031 Clinical and Strategic Commissioning and Population Health Improvement Plans

NHS Cheshire and Merseyside is the statutory body responsible for planning, funding and overseeing NHS services for our 2.7 million residents. Our 2026–31 Clinical and Strategic Commissioning and Population Health Improvement Plans set out our shared ambitions for the years ahead.​

While there is much to be proud of, we have unwarranted variation in outcomes, experience and access, and demand for services and the cost of providing them continues to rise. We are currently spending more on care than the resources available to us.​

Change is essential.​

It is our responsibility to ensure that our £8.2bn annual budget delivers maximum value for local communities. We must decide how best to use this funding to meet the health needs of our population. This is a complex task that requires us to use our role as a strategic commissioner and system convenor to balance competing priorities and address the needs of different groups.​

Aligned with the NHS 10‑Year Health Plan, our strategy focuses on transforming services to improve outcomes while ensuring long‑term financial sustainability. We will target resources to deliver the three key shifts in care:​

• Hospital to community​
• Sickness to prevention​
• Analogue to digital​

We believe these shifts are best achieved through a neighbourhood health model that delivers proactive, preventative care, improves residents’ lives and builds on the strengths of our communities.​

To enable this model, we will transform how we work, aligning with the new NHS operating model and strengthening collaboration with local government, community, voluntary, faith and social enterprise partners, NHS providers and other key stakeholders.​

This approach will not only help strengthen local connections, but create a more streamlined, accountable system that reduces duplication, supports agile governance and enables faster, more effective decision‑making for the benefit of local patients.

Our plan is, in part, based on existing Health and Care Partnership and NHS Cheshire and Merseyside priorities but with a refocus based on an updated integrated needs assessment which considers:​

• What residents say matters most to them​
• Findings from the Population Health Needs Assessment, incorporating nine Local Authority Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNA)
• Identified gaps and concerns in meeting expected quality standards​
• Areas where current services are not meeting need or demand​
• Provider insight into clinical, financial and operational pressures​
• Recognition that the system is financially unsustainable and must become more efficient​
• Delivering the priorities in the NHS Medium Term Plan and statutory national duties (including those areas identified by NHS England as requiring improvement through enforcement undertakings in the areas of financial planning, quality, leadership and governance).

The Population Health Improvement Plan (PHIP) is a strategic, data-driven approach to improving the overall health, wellbeing, and health equity of a defined group of people by addressing root causes of illness and promoting wellness across communities, not just within individual clinical visits, but across wider pathways, involving collaboration between healthcare, local government, and community partners. ​

Our PHIP is aimed at improving the health of the entire population. It is about improving the physical and mental health outcomes and wellbeing of people while reducing health inequalities. ​

It includes action to reduce the occurrence of ill health, deliver appropriate health and care services and action on the wider determinants of health. It requires working with communities and partner agencies.

Below you will find our previous plans and supporting documents.

2025

2024

2023