Commissioners must be able to distinguish between the needs of the individual, and those of the wider community, to ensure equity of access. Needs assessment facilitates this by allowing commissioners to understand what the local or practice population need from care services to improve health and wellbeing, helping them to plan and provide local services. Since April 2008, stakeholders, such as local authorities and clinical commissioning groups, have been working together to produce joint strategic needs assessments, so that the most efficient practices can be implemented.