About us

Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA)

To achieve the best health services for Bristol, we must have a full understanding of local needs.

NHS Bristol, Bristol City Council and the Local Involvement Network are working together to identify the current and future health and wellbeing needs of the population of Bristol. This ongoing process is called the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA).

The JSNA helps us with:
• Short term planning, three to five years ahead, by identifying priority groups or communities who are experiencing poorer health and wellbeing.  We can then design or re-design our services to reduce these inequalities.
• Longer term planning, five to ten years in the future, by identifying the likely changes in the population and the challenges ahead.  This allows us to use our resources as effectively as possible.

Our first step towards mapping local needs was a report, Joint Strategic Needs Assessment of health and wellbeing in Bristol, in October 2008.  For the first time, in one place, the report provided information on local health needs, health inequalities and new and emerging challenges.  View the key findings from the first JSNA report.

Keeping you informed

Since the 2008 baseline report, new data and research have added to the picture of health and wellbeing in Bristol. This is included in the update reports, JSNA…keeping you informed, which can be found in related documents. 

The 2009 JSNA update includes population change, survey results and new pieces of research. The 2010 JSNA update provides a more strategic overview and commissioning tools to implement the changes required, plus refreshed data and links to further intelligence.

This is part of an ongoing process to ensure the JSNA reflects the latest information - to inform our decision-making and act as a reality check against our priorities. 

JSNA draft data sets 2011
The 2011 JSNA is being developed as a full refresh of the JSNA Baseline report, re-modelled to reflect changing needs and new stakeholders.  View the draft dataset appendices and have the opportunity to make comments on the Bristol City Council website.

JSNA Data Atlas
As part of the JSNA, local data about health and wellbeing is now available on a tool called Instant Atlas. This is a flexible tool that lets you choose what information to show and how the information is displayed. The data has been updated as part of the JSNA update mentioned above. The Instant Atlas tool is available through the Bristol data profiles website

For more information
Nick Smith, JSNA Project Manager
Telephone: 0117 903 7304
Email: JSNA@bristol.gov.uk