‘Future-focused prevention’ report showcases the impact of prevention across Cheshire and Merseyside
Tuesday, 13 October 2026
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside’s Director of Population Health, Professor Ian Ashworth, has published his 2025/26 Annual Report, highlighting the role of the NHS in preventing ill health, reducing health inequalities and improving population health.
The report, ‘Future-focused prevention’, showcases examples of work taking place across Cheshire and Merseyside to embed prevention into healthcare services, alongside recommendations for how organisations can build on this progress. The report is also accompanied by a film which brings a range of powerful stories to life.
The publication comes as the NHS continues to focus on shifting from hospital to community, analogue to digital, and treatment to prevention, as set out in the Government’s NHS 10-Year Plan for England.
In the foreword of the report, Professor Ian Ashworth, Director of Population Health at NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, said:
“Returning to the original vision of Aneurin Bevan when the NHS was established in 1948, the NHS 10-year plan recognises the NHS should move beyond curing illness to promoting health through prevention and early intervention.
“Embedding prevention as a core role of the NHS requires significant system leadership from across the healthcare system. The role of the NHS in promoting and protecting the wellbeing of patients, carers, family and friends, staff and visitors needs to be recognised and implemented.
“This includes recognising that healthcare alone does not determine our health and when working with patients, it is crucial that we work with them in a holistic way to understand the different factors influencing their health and wellbeing.”
The report highlights initiatives demonstrating how prevention can be integrated into NHS services, including work to tackle fuel poverty, support people to stop smoking, identify cardiovascular disease earlier and improve asthma care for children and young people.
In Cheshire and Merseyside, an estimated 450,000 households live in cold or inadequately heated homes, which can worsen respiratory conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. Through a partnership approach, more than 900 patients have been placed on a fuel poverty pathway, connecting them with clinical reviews and practical support. An evaluation estimated a 10% reduction in GP appointments among the patient cohort compared with a control group.
The report also highlights progress through the All Together Smokefree programme, which supports NHS organisations to establish smokefree hospital environments and provide treatment for tobacco dependency. During the reporting period, 16,735 of the 17,735 inpatient smokers identified across Cheshire and Merseyside agreed to be referred to tobacco dependency services.
Other examples include a pilot offering blood pressure checks through 60 opticians, which has delivered 1,243 checks since June 2025, and the ‘Too Much Blue – Get a Review’ campaign, which has generated 376,000 impressions and 114,000 interactions across social media platforms to raise awareness of asthma management among children and young people.
The report also highlights work to improve NHS staff flu vaccination uptake. Following targeted support informed by insight work with more than 1,500 healthcare workers, the programme resulted in 5,000 additional flu vaccinations compared with the previous year.
Alongside celebrating this work, the report sets out five recommendations for NHS organisations across Cheshire and Merseyside. These include strengthening leadership on prevention, taking a holistic approach to patient care, prioritising support for healthy behaviours, improving staff wellbeing and ensuring healthcare environments promote health.
The report emphasises the importance of working collaboratively across the health and care system to address the wider factors influencing health and wellbeing, prevent illness and reduce inequalities across the population. This collaborative way of working is bolstered in Cheshire and Merseyside by a population health ‘hybrid team’ which includes both NHS and public health staff within the Champs Public Health Collaborative’s Champs Support Team. This way of working allows Directors of Public Health to play a key role in prevention of ill health within the NHS, building on a 20+ year approach to collaboration across the subregion.