About NHS Wakefield District
NHS Wakefield District is the main NHS body responsible for healthcare and health promotion for the 321,200 people who live in the Wakefield district.
We commission - that is plan and pay for - any health services you might need. This includes hospitals, ambulances, mental health and other specialist services. We also agree contracts with local GPs, dentists, pharmacists and optometrists to deliver high-quality services for local people.
We also provide a range of community-based health services, through our service provider arm which is known as Wakefield District Community Healthcare Services. This includes: district nursing, health visiting, sexual health and contraception services, podiatry and child health services.
As well as making sure that services are in place for when you are unwell, a big part of what we do is to help improve the health and well-being of local people. We tackle a huge variety of issues such as smoking, obesity, substance misuse, and teenage pregnancy. We also address the causes of chronic diseases such as diabetes, stroke and heart disease so that fewer people suffer from them in future. And we help people with long-term conditions to manage their illnesses themselves. This means that they spend less time in hospital and gives them a better quality of life.
To check out the key issues that we are currently working on and our ambitions for the health of local people, read our Operational Plan 2010/2011 summary below.
