The government has published its Neighbourhood Health Framework, setting out how local health and care services are expected to work more closely together at a neighbourhood level.
For organisations across the Third Sector in Leeds, this is important. It signals where the system is heading and where partnership working is expected to deepen.
If you want to explore the details, you can read:
- The full analysis from The King’s Fund
- The NHS 10 Year Health Plan
- Neighbourhood health guidance (2025 to 2026)
What Is It?
The framework builds on the NHS 10 Year Plan and recent guidance. It sets out an approach where services are organised around people and communities, rather than individual organisations.
This includes:
- GP and community health services
- Urgent and outpatient care
- Social care and public health
- Wider partners, including the Third Sector
A stronger role is also outlined for health and wellbeing boards in shaping local priorities.
Why It Matters to the Third Sector
There is clear recognition that improving health outcomes cannot sit with the NHS alone.
The framework highlights the need for:
- Joint working across health, local authorities and community organisations
- Locally defined priorities based on population need
- A broader focus on prevention and community-based support
This aligns closely with the role many Third Sector organisations already play in Leeds.
Across the city, organisations are already contributing to neighbourhood-based approaches through delivery, engagement and system insight. This includes supporting community voice, working alongside statutory partners, and helping shape how services respond to local need.
Where Questions Remain
The King’s Fund highlights that, while the framework provides more clarity, it also raises important questions about how this will work in practice.
These include:
- Whether systems have the capacity and capability to deliver
- How national expectations will align with local flexibility
- Whether social care will be fully resourced to play its role
- How different delivery models will work together
- Whether the focus on prevention can be maintained alongside short-term pressures
These are not abstract concerns. They reflect challenges already being experienced across local systems.
In Leeds, there are established ways of working that begin to respond to some of these questions, particularly through partnership structures, neighbourhood working, and collaboration between the Third Sector, local authority and health partners.
However, the same pressures identified nationally are also present locally, including workforce capacity, demand, and the complexity of aligning multiple priorities across organisations.
What This Means in Practice
For organisations in Leeds, this is not a new direction, but it does increase expectations around partnership working.
It points towards:
- Continued involvement in neighbourhood-level planning and delivery
- A stronger emphasis on prevention and early support
- The need to evidence impact and share insight into community needs
It also reinforces the importance of ensuring the Third Sector voice is reflected in how neighbourhood health develops locally, particularly where organisations are already contributing to system conversations and engagement activity.
Share Your Feedback
Forum Central is currently updating its position statement on the role of the Third Sector in neighbourhood health in Leeds.
The draft reflects ongoing conversations with organisations and system partners about the opportunities, challenges and support needed to make neighbourhood health work in practice.
We welcome feedback from organisations across Leeds.
Further Reading
You can explore the full King’s Fund analysis here.
Final Thought
The framework provides a clearer direction of travel, but it does not resolve the practical challenges of delivery.
In Leeds, much of the groundwork for neighbourhood working is already in place. The next phase will be about how that is strengthened, aligned and supported, particularly in a context where demand and system pressure remain high.
