Minutes:
Dr Katherine Packham, Consultant in Public Health gave a verbal summary on the outcome of the Health and Development Session held on 1 October.
· The aims of the Health & Wellbeing Board contained in its Terms of Reference were discussed, and some amendments were suggested which would be submitted to the Council for approval.
· The Board should set direction through the Health and Wellbeing Strategy and monitor progress and improvements through the Strategy’s action plan.
· There should be a shared language and terms for initiatives used by all health partners. The Board should have a strong advocacy role in reducing health inequalities and the wider determinants of health and also ensure there was a focus on children and adults.
· Consideration was given to the Chairs of the Learning Disability Partnership Board and the Mental Health Partnership Boards having membership of the Board.
· Good discussion took place around housing and the wider determinates of health. These and other points discussed would need to be discussed further to consider how they could be progressed.
· The Board had an important role to link Health and Wellbeing framework with the health system and determine how to implement to avoid duplications between health partners and formalise links to other groups and committees in the integrated health system and integrated health care sectors and to ensure they are aware of what the Board is working to achieve.
· There should be strong links with neighbourhoods in their different forms for community organisations and the differing natures of areas and GPs in the City etc.
· It was important for health providers hear directly from communities what they wanted from the health service due to their needs and lifestyles and not be just informed the service health providers felt they should receive.
· There would be a need to provide funding and staff to progress the work forward.
The Chair stated that having arrived at these outcomes she didn’t want to spend lengthy times in Board meetings sorting out the process. This would be for officers to undertake and submit revised Terms of Reference for circulation. The Chair supported having the Chairs of the 2 Partnership Boards taking part in Board meetings. The Board supported these views particularly working with carers differently and for the Board to focus on giving strong leadership of what Leicester’s vision is about this would be achieved to make Leicester a great place to live and work.
The Chair also felt that it was important to understand the responsibilities of the different Boards working in the health sector and how they fitted together in the system. Shared learning from each other and how they all undertook engagement could lead to joint engagement to avoid duplication and maximise public engagement.
Board members also felt that it was important not to be driven by a national dictates and agendas but what was considered to work locally to meet Leicester’s health and wellbeing needs. Care should be taken that the Board did not unnecessarily rebadge or reengineer what was already being done and it should be made clear what was not being done and why. The Board must be the driver around the concept of place. The focus should be on partnerships and recognise what can’t be done together but recognise the influence of what can be done across the City. Police, universities and sports clubs should also play a part in the process.
The Chair thanked Board members for their contributions to the discussion.
RESOLVED:-
1) Officers were thanked for the update and asked to progress the amendments to the Terms of Reference.
2) The Board agreed with the Chair’s suggestion that all future reports should be written and provided in an easy-to-read version and be implemented as soon as possible. Martin Samuels indicated that Adult Social Care staff could give advice on how this can be achieved.
3) That, as Ivan Browne and Dr Katherine Packham were already looking at what support should be available to the Board, they were asked to circulate these to all Board Members to see if they were fit for purpose and for Board Members to see what part their organise could play in supporting the Board.
4) A further development session in 2-3 months’ time would be helpful.