Isles of Scilly•The Isles of Scilly are located 28 miles South West of Land’s End

•We have a resident population of 2100

•Five islands are inhabited

•Like Cornwall our economy is driven by tourism

•The islands are administered by the Council of the Isles of Scilly, the smallest local authority in England.

Both every day life and the delivery of services to Scilly can be heavily impacted by weather

Flights to Land’s End and Newquay run through the year (weather permitting) as well as to Exeter during the summer season

The Scillonian carries passengers from Penzance between March and October

The cost of travel is very high, a return flight from Land’s End – 60 miles – is approximately £150. Bristol to Barcelona via EasyJet is about £90

Travel for mainland health appointments is heavily subsidised and costs only £5

Over the past few years there has been significant investment in infrastructure including hard runways, airport terminals and work on our quays

Island Life

Scilly is classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty which present many opportunities for supporting improved wellbeing

We have one school, with four bases

Travel between the off-islands can be expensive especially in the winter, a 2 mile “special” boat trip can cost £80

Crime levels are low and our community indicate they feel very safe

Unemployment levels are very low, average incomes are also low

For such a small community there are a good range of facilities including a sports hall, pool, play spaces, MUGA’s etc

Local services

•Scilly has 2-3 resident GPs

•A small hospital with Minor Injuries Unit

•Resident part time Health Visitor, School Nurse, Health Support Worker

•There is currently a gap in Midwifery provision

•CAMHS provision for Scilly is being reviewed

•There is a resident Dentist

•We have an effective and integrated Children’s Centre

•There are 2 qualified and experienced Children’s Social Workers

•We receive regular visits and input from mainland specialists

Children, Young People and Families

•On average there are 24 children per year group

•Data can be misleading or non existent

•Breastfeeding, Immunisation and school attainment are good

•Secondary aged young people from our off-islands board on St Mary’s 4 days per week in term time

•At 16 young people leave Scilly to continue their education

•Our small population and high number of frontline professionals make it very difficult to “slip through the net”

•Principles of Early Help are well embedded

•Our small cohorts can generate stigma, there is nowhere to escape which can cause a feeling of claustrophobia for some

Challenges

•Delivering services to a small, off shore community requires careful consideration and detailed planning

•Few economies of scale add time and cost to service delivery. We do however believe in the old adage that Every Child Matters

•We often run the risk of being forgotten, Strategies for Cornwall and Scilly don’t always factor in our idiosyncratic needs

•We have an increasing need to access specialist support services

•Recruitment can be hampered by lack of affordable housing

•Emotional wellbeing and mental health are emerging priorities

In the final analysis, Scilly is a micro version of any other community; we have some outstanding highflyers

and others in need of intense levels of support

Opportunities for improvement

•Service planning has to be flexible and pragmatic

•Many of our needs are similar to Cornwall’s although we also have our own evidence base

•There are opportunities to maximise use of technology now we have Super Fast Broadband, however we feel there will always be a place for face to face contact

•We’re keen to explore further co-location and shared commissioning of services. We want to built sustainable provision not always reliant on one individual

We’re committed to delivering positive and proactive services that meet the needs of our local population, we want other providers to share this

vision

Contact details

Joel WilliamsSenior Manager: Health and Wellbeingjwilliams@scilly.gov.uk

www.scilly.gov.uk

01720 424880