Rural communities - how accessible are your local health and well-being services?
20 February 2025
Residents living in rural communities across North Northamptonshire are invited to take part in a Rural Health Needs Assessment survey to share their experiences of accessing local health and wellbeing services.
The online survey aims to gather feedback from residents in villages, hamlets, market towns, or less built-up areas, as well as those who feel their community faces challenges often associated with rural living, such as limited transport or fewer local services.
North Northamptonshire Council is particularly keen to hear from residents who may face additional challenges in accessing services, including older adults, people with disabilities, carers, and those without access to reliable transport or digital services.
This survey provides an ideal way for residents who may face additional challenges in accessing services, including older adults, people with disabilities, carers, and those without access to reliable transport or digital services to let us know about access to health and wellbeing services in their rural area.Cllr Gill Mercer, Executive Member for Adults Health and Wellbeing
If you know of friends, family or neighbours who would benefit from sharing their experiences please do forward the link to the online survey or contact the council to request a hard copy survey, a large print survey or a survey in another language.
This Rural Health Needs Assessment is an excellent opportunity for residents in our rural villages, hamlets, market towns, and less built-up areas to share their experiences of accessing local health and wellbeing services.Jason Smithers, Leader of North Northamptonshire Council
I strongly encourage residents to provide their feedback, whether positive or negative, so that we can better understand the challenges across North Northamptonshire and work towards improving access to essential services for everyone.
Insights from the survey will help the council build a clearer picture of what is working well, the challenges faced by rural residents, and how public health services can better meet these needs in the future.
Feedback will help the council to:
- Understand how easy or challenging it is to access services.
- Identify barriers to healthcare, wellbeing services, and community activities.
- Establish key priorities for improving services and planning future support.
- Advocate for better access to services for rural communities.
The online survey is open from 12 February to 25 March 2025, and support is available for anyone needing help to complete it or for those who require the survey in an alternative format (such as paper, large print, or other languages).
To request support or alternative formats, please contact North Northamptonshire Council customer services on 0300 126 3000 and select the Public Health option.