Health and wellbeing needs assessments

Joint strategic needs assessment

Our Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) helps us identify the current and future health and wellbeing needs of people living in Newcastle.

For more information see:

• Joint strategic needs assessment (JSNA)

0 to 19 needs assessment

Out 0 to 19 needs assessment aims to provide an overview of Newcastle’s population aged up to 19 years old, and consider a variety of factors impacting children and young people’s lives.

A life course approach is used to examine the needs and experiences for children and young people, from conception to age 19. 

To read our 0 to 19 needs assessment see:

• 0 to 19 needs assessment PDF 4.2MB)

Drug market profile

The drug market profile is a comprehensive overview of the drug market in Newcastle and wider Northumbria Police force area, its impacts and harms, and our response. 

It was produced in partnership with Northumbria Police, with contributions from various substance use organisations throughout the city.

To read the drug market profile see:

• Newcastle drug market profile (PDF 4.1MB)

Gambling needs assessment

Our gambling needs assessment aims to provide an overview of the prevalence of gambling and scale of the harms in Newcastle, the North East and nationally. 

We take into account Newcastle’s population, including the voices of those impacted by someone else’s gambling, to understand how our population is affected and how services can serve those in need. 

This document identifies gaps in our data intelligence and provides recommendations, from a public health perspective, for future work.

To read our gambling needs assessment see:

• Gambling and gambling related harms need assessment (PDF 1.4MB)

Pharmaceutical needs assessment

Newcastle’s Health and Wellbeing Board has a statutory duty to complete a pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) every three years. We are now entering the development stage of the PNA 2025-2028.

A pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) is a document describing:

• where community pharmacies are located
• how services are currently delivered
• what the current and potential need for pharmacy services in Newcastle will be

The purpose of the document is two-fold, to determine:

• if there are sufficient community pharmacies to meet the needs of Newcastle’s population
• other services which could be delivered by community pharmacies to meet the identified health needs of the population

For the latest PNA see:

• Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment report for Newcastle for 2022 to 2025 (PDF 4.2MB)
• integrated impact assessment for our Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PDF 179KB)

Supplementary statements

After a pharmaceutical needs assessment is published circumstances can change. For example, pharmacies may open or close.

When that happens we publish details in a supplementary statement. That information then becomes a part of the PNA.

The statements for the 2022 to 2025 PNA are:

• Boots Chillingham Road

• Boots Cruddas Park Shopping Centre

• Boots Halewood Avenue, Kenton

• Falcons Pharmacy

• St. Stevens Pharmacy

Sexual health needs assessment

Our sexual health needs assessment provides an overview of the provision of sexual health service in Newcastle. 

It covers the access and uptake of consultations and testing, as well as the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections.

These are discussed in regard to the effect that COVID-19 had on service access, and subsequent post COVID-19 activity. 

To read the needs assessment see:

• Newcastle clinical sexual health needs assessment 2023 (PDF 2MB)

Please note that in September 2024 the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) downgraded the gender identity estimates from Census 2021 from an 'accredited official statistic' to 'official statistics in development'. This was due to potential differences in how the question was interpreted, particularly for populations with lower levels of English language proficiency. This may have resulted in an overestimate of the trans population, particularly at small geographic levels where there are higher proportions of non-English speakers. 

Please use caution when interpreting the gender identity data published in the Sexual Health Needs Assessment, as the original document was published prior to the OSR highlighting this limitation in data quality. 

Ethnic Minority Needs Assessment

The Ethnic Minority Needs Assessment aims to bring together epidemiological intelligence on the needs of ethnic minorities and underserved communities in Newcastle. The findings and identified knowledge gaps hold broad relevance, offering valuable insights for services across the city. While this assessment is not exhaustive, it should be viewed as a starting point towards a better understanding of the needs of underserved communities in Newcastle and as a tool for highlighting critical gaps in existing intelligence.

• Ethnic Minority Needs Assessment (PDF 3.22MB)