Agenda and minutes

Chairman to welcome all to the meeting and ask the Board to note its membership from the start of the new Council (attached).

1.1     The Chairman welcomed those attending and noted apologies.   Councillor Bob Lanzer introduced himself as the Cabinet Member for, Public Health and Wellbeing and as the new Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board. It was noted that Councillor Amanda Jupp, the outgoing Chairman, would continue as a Member of the Board in her role as Cabinet Member for Adult Services.

1.2     As it was the start of the Municipal year 2021/22 the Chairman asked Members of the West Sussex Health and Wellbeing Board to note its membership (copy appended to the agenda and available on the Website). The Board’s new members; Catherine Howe, Interim Chief Executive Adur and Worthing Councils and Councillor Garry Wall as the newly elected Chairman for the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee, were welcomed.

1.3     Reflecting on pandemic progress since the Board last met in January 2021, the Chairman acknowledged that Covid19 had  been one of the greatest challenges that public health, social care, the NHS, and all our communities had faced. He welcomed the vaccine that had shown true partnership working in its delivery with mass vaccination, at pace, across the communities of West Sussex.  The Chairman informed that this work continued to include the targeting of health inequalities by engaging with residents and communities in innovative ways such as mobile vaccination units, flexibility with clinics and utilising existing community and faith links.

1.4     The Chairman took the opportunity, on behalf of the Health and Wellbeing Board, to express his thanks and appreciation to all those who were working on the delivery of the vaccination programme, led by Sussex Health and Care Partnership and supported by the County Council, including the health and social care workforce, district and borough councils, volunteers, communities, and everyone who had taken up the offer of vaccination.

1.5        In concluding his welcome, the Chairman referenced the recent Government announcement that there would be a 4-week pause of the roadmap out of lockdown due to the exponential growth of the Delta variant spreading across England.  Data would be reviewed by the Government to ascertain if risks had reduced, so that England could continue its roadmap out of lockdown on Monday, 19 July. It was acknowledged that moving into the school holiday period, with an increase in the number of visitors to West Sussex, communications would continue to play a fundamental role in helping to keep West Sussex safe, and the Local Outbreak Engagement Board, would continue to support the delivery of national messages at local authority level, using its voice to engage with residents, local communities, businesses and key partners. The Chairman urged that everyone should continue to follow the measures in place to help to prevent the spread of Covid19.

Members and officers must declare any pecuniary or personal interest in any business on the agenda.  They should also make declarations at any stage such an interest becomes apparent during the meeting. Consideration should be given to leaving the meeting if the nature of the interest warrants it; if in doubt contact Democratic Services before the meeting.

2.1     There were no declarations.

The Board is asked to confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board held on 28 January 2021.

3.1     Resolved – that the minutes of the meeting held on 28 January 2021 are approved as a correct record and are signed by the Chairman.

The Board invites questions and comments from the public for consideration at the meeting. Please submit questions, at least three days ahead of the meeting in order to allow a substantive answer to be given. Contact Erica Keegan on Telephone: 0330 222 6050 (a local call) or via email: erica.keegan@westsussex.gov.uk

The meeting will be available to watch live via the Internet at this address: http://www.westsussex.public-i.tv/core/portal/home

4.1     The Board had invited questions from the public for consideration at this meeting. Two questions had been received and were responded to at the meeting;

·       Radiotherapy services in West Sussex – the Executive Managing Director West Sussex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) explained that the commissioning of radiotherapy services within the NHS is the remit of Specialised Commissioning, under NHS England. All reviews of radiotherapy provision across the Southeast region were paused during 2020 and early 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic but moving forward, the Southeast specialised commissioning team and the Surrey & Sussex Cancer Alliance would be working to review future radiotherapy requirements for West Sussex.

·       How the Board would address the negative impact of the Covid19 lockdown on children – the Executive Director Children, Young People and Learning acknowledged that there had been an increase in demand across both Early Help and children’s social care services over the past year and this was likely to be due to the impact of the pandemic.  It was stated that the council was working very closely with health colleagues in finding ways of addressing this;

a)   the Early Help proposed new service had been designed to provide the capacity to identify and meet the needs of the most vulnerable children and families;

b)   Children’s social care had invested in increasing the number of workers in the Integrated Front Door,  Assessment and Intervention teams and the Family Support and Protection teams; and

c)   a new model of social work, the Family Safeguarding model, was being introduced, which would create multi-disciplinary teams to support families in a co-ordinated way. Within the education setting there had been an increase in the mental health in schools service.

4.2     The Chairman confirmed that the questioners would also receive the responses in writing following the meeting.

The Children First Board, being accountable to the West Sussex Health and Wellbeing Board, as a sub-group of the Board, will provide a formal update at its quarterly public meetings.

5.1     The Board received a report updating on the work of the Children First Board which was chaired by Councillor Jacquie Russell as Cabinet Member for Children and Young People and had met on 8 October 2020, 14 January 2021 and 3 April 2021. It was informed that the Children First Board had a strong ethos of engaging with children and young people, keeping their views central to its work.

5.2     In response to the concerns raised at the Children First Board by the young people representatives on future wellbeing, following the impact of Covid19, it was noted that emotional wellbeing and good mental health for Children and young people was a key priority for this Board.  It was informed that an Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health subgroup had been formed to develop and oversee implementation of a place-based improvement and delivery plan. The first meeting would be held in late June and every two months thereafter.

5.3     In receiving this report, Health and Wellbeing Board Members praised all that the Children First Board had achieved so far and congratulated the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People and the Executive Director Children, Young People and Learning on the depth of engagement with children and young people.

5.4     Resolved – that the Health and Wellbeing Board noted the Children First Board Report dated 24 June 2021.

The Local Outbreak Engagement Board, being accountable to the West Sussex Health and Wellbeing Board, as a sub-group of the Board, will provide a formal update. This will include an update on the latest position with respect to Covid19 with a further verbal report at the meeting should further information become available.

The Health and Wellbeing Board is asked to;

(1)provide feedback on the progress of the West Sussex COVID-19 Local Outbreak Engagement Board (LOEB), since the last quarterly report to the Health and Wellbeing Board in January 2021; and

(2)consider how the LOEB could further increase engagement with residents and communities across West Sussex during the ongoing pandemic, recognising the steps within the government’s roadmap out of lockdown, and aligning with key messages.

6.1     The Health and Wellbeing Board received its quarterly update on the progress of the Covid19 Local Outbreak Engagement Board (LOEB). Councillor Bob Lanzer was announced as the new Chairman of this Board following his appointment, confirmed on 21 May 2021 Full Council meeting, as Cabinet Member for Public Health and Wellbeing.  

6.2     The Board was informed that since its last report in January 2021 LOEB work had remained focused on a partnership approach, bringing key systems leaders together, with the aim of reducing the spread of infection and saving lives.  The following key pieces of work had been supported;

·       Asymptomatic Testing Programme

·       Covid19 Vaccination Programme

·       Local Tracing Partnership

·       Early Years/Schools/University

·       West Sussex County Council Elections

·       Future Events

·       Covid19 Communications – particularly targeting those communities experiencing health inequalities

6.3     Board members were provided with the latest data on Covid19 infection rates in West Sussex noting that between 11 to 17 June 2021 there was an infection rate of 49.5 per 100,000 of the population which was lower than the average in England. It was also noted that all adults had been offered a vaccination with a good uptake in West Sussex, PCR Tests for symptomatic residents were being encouraged to minimise spread of infection and hospitalisation figures remained low. There had been no deaths, in West Sussex, in recent weeks, due to Covid19.

6.4     In considering how the LOEB could increase engagement with communities across West Sussex during the ongoing pandemic, it was agreed that the voluntary sector as well as the District and Boroughs were a good source of support allowing for flexibility in providing localised communications. It was acknowledged that local links had been pivotal to the work of the LOEB.

6.5     In turning to the report’s recommendations, the Chairman gave his thanks for a comprehensive update.

6.6     The Health and Wellbeing Board Resolved that –

(1)   feedback had been provided on the progress of the Covid19 Local Outbreak Engagement Board since its last quarterly report in January 2021; and

(2)   the Board had considered how the Local Outbreak Engagement Board could further increase engagement with residents and communities across West Sussex during the ongoing pandemic, recognising the steps within the Government’s road map out of lockdown and aligning key messages.

The Board will receive the Healthwatch West Sussex Annual Report 2020/21 from the Chief Officer.

The Health and Wellbeing Board is asked to: -

(1)promote stakeholder engagement with Healthwatch West Sussex to ensure services are most effective for needs; and

(2)recognise the priorities and to seek updates of progress against these priorities.

7.1     The Board received the Healthwatch West Sussex Annual Report 2020/21 from the Chief Officer.

7.2        In discussing the report, the following key points were made;

·       contact from residents in West Sussex had increased by 50% during the pandemic;

·       funding for Healthwatch per head of population was raised as a concern as demands were exceeding resources. It was agreed that a full briefing on West Sussex Healthwatch finances would be provided, by the Chief Officer, to the Executive Director Adults and Health and the Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board;

·       Healthwatch was thanked by Board Members for their assistance in supporting the targeted approach for the vaccination programme with their Insight work;

·       the NHS/CCG relationship with Healthwatch had been developed sharing areas of concern such as access to Dentistry, providing a local focus to NHS England Commissioners;

·       it was recognised that Healthwatch held a key role in understanding residents’ behaviours using this intelligence to inform work, such as tackling health inequalities;

·       Councillor Amanda Jupp asked for a more detailed breakdown of the IHCAS (Independent Health Complaints Advocacy Service) where demand and complexity of cases had risen significantly. The Healthwatch Chief Officer agreed to provide this information following the meeting.

7.3        The Health and Wellbeing Board Resolved that;

(1)  stakeholder engagement with Healthwatch West Sussex to ensure services most effective for needs be promoted; and

(2)  the priorities be recognised with updates sought on progress against these priorities.

The Head of Adults Safeguarding and the Chairman of the West Sussex Safeguarding Adults Board (WSSAB) will present the West Sussex Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report 2020/21 to the Health and Wellbeing Board.

The Health and Wellbeing Board is asked to: -

1)   Actively support the West Sussex Safeguarding Adults Board‘s strategic plan to improve prevention services and the experience of adults in West Sussex County Council who are at risk of abuse and/or neglect. 

2)   Provide feedback on how the Health and Wellbeing Board, as representative of the partner agencies and, within the Collaborative Working Agreement, will contribute to the West Sussex Safeguarding Adults Board’s priorities for 2021-22.

3)   Share learning and improvement which interfaces with Adult Safeguarding.

8.1     The Head of Safeguarding and the Independent Chairman of the Adults Safeguarding Board presented the West Sussex Safeguarding Adults Annual Report 2020/21.

8.2     Achievements highlighted were;

·       the Safeguarding Adults Board had reviewed processes to ensure year on year improvement. A Pan Sussex Information Sharing Protocol and a Pan Sussex Adult Death Protocol had been developed with East Sussex and Brighton and Hove Safeguarding Boards;

·       a new Subgroup had been established, Multi-Agency Risk Management Subgroup (MARM) assisting with the management of challenging cases, such as homelessness, to ensure effective communication across the support agencies;

·       every Safeguarding Adults Board meeting starts with a Case Study to ensure the voice of the user is heard reminding on what needs to improve;

·       a key priority was identified as Collaborative working as well as making safeguarding personal;

·       the pandemic had seen a rise in online scams and Sussex Police had spoken on this topic at the recent Annual Safeguarding Adults Conference.

8.3     In receiving the Safeguarding Adults Annual Report 2020/21, the Cabinet Member for Adults Services commended the plans for improvement and thanked the Independent Chairman and everyone involved for excellent progress. The Executive Director Adults and Health also commended the report for its clarity and noticeable focus of working collaboratively as well as transparently.

8.4     The Independent Chairman Adults Safeguarding Board drew Board Member’s attention to the fact that the full the impact of the pandemic had not yet been realised, even in people that had not been vulnerable before. The Health and Wellbeing Board could expect to see covid19 legacy issues such as mental health, homelessness, redundancy, criminality and exploitation. In discussing this, the Board agreed that a future item would be added to the work plan on online fraud.

8.5     The Health and Wellbeing Board Resolved that;

(1)   the West Sussex Safeguarding Adults Board’s strategic plan to improve prevention services and the experience of adults in West Sussex who are at risk of abuse and/or neglect be actively supported;

(2)   feedback be provided on how the Health and Wellbeing Board, as representative of the partner agencies and, within the Collaborative Working Agreement, will contribute to the West Sussex Safeguarding Adults Board’s priorities for 2021-22; and

(3) learning and improvement which interfaces with Adult Safeguarding be shared.

A verbal update will be provided by the Executive Director, Adults and Health.

9.1     The Executive Director Adults and Health, the Joint Strategic Director of Commissioning and the Executive Managing Director, West Sussex Clinical Commissioning Group provided a verbal update on the Integrated Care System (ICS) and the Place Based Plan, outlining the significant developments as a result of the Governments White Paper on  legislative proposals for NHS Social Care Reform.

9.2     The Joint Strategic Director of Commissioning informed the Board on planning and the following key points were made;

·       it was reminded that the Place Based Plan was not a new plan but started with the West Sussex Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy which was being used as a strategic lead for Health and Care, feeding into the NHS Long Term Plan;

·       the Place Based Plan was being used to deliver objectives as a partnership whilst incorporating learning, including Covid19, into the planning journey;

·       the Place Based Plan would help direct what needed to be achieved this year as well as the longer term strategic directive;

·       a piece of work had been undertaken on Health Integration using West Sussex Communications and Engagement Network to inform on what residents would like joined up care to look like.

9.3     The Executive Managing Director, West Sussex Clinical Commissioning Group provided an update to the Board on the Integrated Care System (ICS) development and the following key points were made;

·       the NHS had produced a design framework, in response to the white paper, outlining the headline operational expectations and what that would mean across partners;

·       a place-based focus and partnership working would remain central to the government’s proposal allowing West Sussex partners to build upon the excellent progress that had already been made on place based structure;

·       a statutory ICS body would be established at a Sussex wide level – one element being the implementation of an ICS Health and Care Partnership Board which would work across the NHS and partners as well as maintaining the key relationship with the Health and Wellbeing Boards. There would no longer be a Clinical Commissioning Group model;

·       it was noted that place-based working at local levels would continue to be a key focus and West Sussex would be able to continue to build upon its firm foundation of place-based work.

9.4     The Executive Director Adults and Health concluded by informing Board Members that there would be a report presented to the Cabinet meeting on 27 July 2021 on the development of  Integrated Social Care and the Government’s White Paper so that West Sussex County Council could consider potential changes. These included ensuring that West Sussex County Council fully contributes to collaborative, place-based working. It was noted that the report to Cabinet would be circulated to members of the Health and Wellbeing Board.

9.5     The Chairman gave his thanks for this update and asked for any comments/questions. The following key points were made;

·       the importance of the support provided by the voluntary sector to achieve an integrated, place based, structure was recognised and welcomed;

·       the key role of the District  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

This paper summarises performance against the 4 national metrics for Quarters 3 and 4, 2020/21 and provides a brief overview of Better Care Fund (BCF) expectations for 2021/22 pending publication of guidance.

The Health and Wellbeing Board is asked to;

(1)Note the West Sussex performance against the national BCF metrics at Q3 and Q4 2020/21, and the degree to which these are impacted by Covid-19; and

(2)Note the BCF planning expectations for 2021/22.

10.1   The Board received the Better Care Fund (BCF) Monitoring Report Quarter 3 and 4 2020-21 from the Joint Strategic Director of Commissioning. The report summarised performance against national metrics and provided a brief overview of expectations for 2021/22 pending publication of guidance.

10.2   In receiving the report, Board Members noted that publication of the Better Care Fund Policy Framework was expected shortly which would confirm national conditions and set direction. Following publication there was a planning window of 8 weeks when the Joint Strategic Commissioning Group would work with commissioners and system partners to conduct an annual review and joint planning process. Once completed it was confirmed that plans would be presented to a future meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board.

10.3   The Health and Wellbeing Board Resolved that –

(1)   the West Sussex performance against the national BCF metrics at Q3 and Q4 2021/22 and the degree to which these are impacted by Covid19 be noted; and

(2)   the BCF planning expectations 2021/22 be noted.

The Health & Wellbeing Board is asked to note its work programme for 21/22 as attached.

Members of the Board are requested to mention any items which they believe to be of relevance to the business of the Health and Wellbeing Board.

If any member puts forward an item, the Board is asked to assess briefly whether to refer the matter to the Chairman to consider in detail for future inclusion.

11.1   The Chairman referred Members to the Health and Wellbeing Board’s Work Plan 2021-22 and were asked to mention any items believed to be of relevance to the business of the Health and Wellbeing Board. In receiving the work plan Members requested that the following items be considered for the next formal meeting in October;

·       Covid19 Sussex wide review from the voluntary sector

·       Learning Disability Awareness to include access to services such as dentistry

·       Online Fraud Prevention from Community Safety

·       West Sussex Plan – (Clinical Commissioning Group vision and Goals that could be shared in an informal, seminar format)

11.2   The Health and Wellbeing Board then noted the Health and Wellbeing Board Work Plan 2021-22.

The next meeting of the Board will be held at 10.30 am on 7 October 2021.

12.1   The date of the next meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board was confirmed as 7 October 2021.