Agenda and minutes

To elect the Chairman and appoint the Vice-Chairman for the 2019/20 Municipal Year.

RESOLVED that Councillor Rick Jones be elected the Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board for the 2019/20 Municipal Year.

Councillor Jones thanked members of the Board for their confidence in him and stated he was looking forward to a good year ahead.

RESOLVED that Dr Bal Bahia be elected the Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board for the 2019/20 Municipal Year.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 24 January 2019.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 24 January 2019 were approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Chairman subject to the inclusion of Councillor Marigold Jacques on the list of attendees.

An opportunity for Board Members to suggest items to go on to the Forward Plan.

The Forward Plan was noted.

To consider outstanding actions from previous meeting(s).

The list of actions arising from previous meetings was noted and updated as appropriate.

To remind Members of the need to record the existence and nature of any personal, disclosable pecuniary or other registrable interests in items on the agenda, in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct.

Dr Bal Bahia declared an interest in all matters pertaining to Primary Care, by virtue of the fact that he was a General Practitioner, to Secondary Care by virtue of the fact that he was a Director for Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust and also that he was a Director for Recovery in Mind, but reported that as his interests were personal and not disclosable pecuniary or other registrable interests, he determined to remain to take part in the debate and vote on the matters where appropriate.

Councillor Owen Jeffrey declared an interest by virtue of the fact that his daughter was employed by Frimley Health Foundation Trust and reported that, as his interest was personal and not a disclosable pecuniary or other registrable interest, he determined to remain to take part in the debate and vote on the matters where appropriate.

Councillor Lynne Doherty declared an interest by virtue of the fact that she was employed by a disability charity and reported that, as her interest was personal and not a disclosable pecuniary or other registrable interest, she determined to remain to take part in the debate and vote on the matters where appropriate.

Councillor Steve Masters declared an interest by virtue of the fact that he was the Chair of Trustees for Eight Bells for Mental Health and reported that, as his interest was personal and not a disclosable pecuniary or other registrable interest, he determined to remain to take part in the debate and vote on the matters where appropriate.

Andrew Sharp declared an interest in any items that might refer to South Central Ambulance Service due to the fact that he was the Chair of Trustees of the West Berks Rapid Response Cars (WBRRC), a local charity that supplied blue light cars for ambulance drivers to use in their spare time to help SCAS respond with 999 calls in West Berkshire, and reported that, as his interest was personal and not a disclosable pecuniary or other registrable interest, he determined to remain to take part in the debate and vote on the matters where appropriate.

Members of the Executive to answer questions submitted by members of the public in accordance with the Executive Procedure Rules contained in the Council’s Constitution.

“When will West Berks start to focus on improving oral health in children and adults, educating them about the importance of good oral health and preventing dental disease?”

A question standing in the name of Mrs Aimee Thomas on the subject of oral health was answered by the Executive Member for Public Health and Community Wellbeing.

There were no petitions presented to the Board.

To receive an update of progress made regarding Priority Two (Employment for Vulnerable People) for 2018/19.

The Board considered a report (Agenda Item 9) which provided an update from the Skills and Enterprise Partnership (SEP) on their activities to support the Board’s priority for 2018/19 to improve access to employment for vulnerable people. Councillor Rick Jones reported that he and Dr Bahia had met with the SEP’s chair, Iain Wolloff (Principal of Newbury College), to discuss the action plan which had largely been completed. A conference on business and wellbeing would be held in the Autumn and the SEP would report back to the Steering Group on further activities it would be completing. Andrew Sharp stated that the group had got off to a slow start as the result of some personnel changes but the membership had been expanded and the momentum was growing. He urged everyone to attend the conference.

Councillor Jones praised the support that Newbury College already offered students with disabilities and hoped the approach could be rolled out to the wider community. Dr Bahia agreed that a lot of work was being undertaken at the college which aligned with the Board’s ambitions in the Vision 2036. Councillor Lynne Doherty also commended the work at the Castle and Brookfields schools in supporting vulnerable people to access employment.

RESOLVED that the report was noted.

To report the feedback from the Voice of Disability consultation event held in November 2018 and update the Board on partners' responses to the recommendations identified in the report.

The Board considered a report (Agenda Item 10) which presented recommendations arising from a workshop with people with disabilities organised by Healthwatch. Andrew Sharp, in introducing the report, thanked all partners for their support to hold the event and write the report.

On the subject of standards of care for people with disabilities, Andrew Sharp highlighted the recent BBC Panorama documentary about Whorlton Hall. He asked that the following question be answered by the Board to provide reassurance to the public:

“How is the Board assured that the kind of staff behaviour seen on the BBC Panorama documentary is not happening in West Berkshire OR to any patients from West Berkshire sent out of area? (Do we also know if any residents of West Berkshire were or ever have been patients  at Whorlton Hall?). What steps are undertaken to ensure this does not happen to West Berkshire Residents who are sent out of area ; which Board member organisations are responsible for ensuring this is not occurring  and are there any actions that might need to be taken as a result of the BBC documentary to increase assurance levels?”

Returning to the report, Andrew Sharp highlighted that there were a lot of good things reported at the conference but a minority received a less than exceptional service. He outlined each of the recommendations involving pavement parking, repairs by the wheelchair clinic and support to use IT. The particular challenge to the Board was whether it had sufficient oversight of disability issues within its current strategy and structures.

Councillor Doherty thanked Healthwatch for the report. She noted that it did not include the voice of children and would ask that this was included. Recommendation 6 regarding CAMHS waiting times, had been discussed many times at the Board and the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board. She agreed that pavement parking posed an issue to many residents including people with disabilities. Councillor Doherty was confident that the Children’s Delivery Group had oversight of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Strategy but was not sure how the Board had oversight of adults with disabilities.

Councillor Owen Jeffery expressed the view that diagnosis through CAMHS was important. Councillor Doherty provided reassurance that through initiatives such as the Emotional Health Academy children could receive early help before any diagnosis. West Berkshire had been identified as part of a national trailblazer pilot of children’s mental health. Although Councillor Doherty accepted that waiting times were still too long, she assured Councillor Jeffery that children still received support.

Councillor Jeffery further asked whether Thatcham Football Club had been contacted regarding the feedback outlined on page 37 that their site was not disabled-friendly. Andrew Sharp advised that Healthwatch were still in the process of getting in touch with relevant organisations.

Councillor Steve Masters thanked Healthwatch for the report and in response to recommendation 13, reported that he had accompanied someone to their Personal Independence Payment assessment as an advocate and had found the process to be designed to intimidate. The lift  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

To announce the launch of the Integrated Care Partnership.

The Board considered a report (Agenda Item 11) which set out governance arrangements for the proposed Integrated Care Partnership (ICP). Since 2013 there had been partnership working in Berkshire West through the Berkshire West 10. In 2016, the Integrated Care System was established with the intention that local government would joint later and it was now appropriate to do so. Elected Members would be involved with the ICP through its Leadership Board . A launch event would be held in July 2019 at Shaw House, Newbury.

Cathy Winfield stated that she would like the ICP’s work programme to align to the Health and Wellbeing Strategy. She highlighted that there was no legislative change so organisations would be coming together as virtual entities to support this way of working.

Councillor Graham Bridgman sought clarification on a statement in the report that the Chief Executive and two Members from each local authority would form part of the Leadership Board. Nick Carter responded that the proposal had since been revised to one Member to ensure there was a balance between the number of local authority and health representatives.

Andrew Sharp expressed concern that the new governance did not include strengthening of patient involvement. Cathy Winfield advised that existing mechanisms would not change and Primary Care Networks would ensure that involvement with patients was strengthened at an appropriate level.

RESOLVED that

(1)          The strategic objectives outlined in the main report (Table 4) are approved as the basis of the BWICSs work programme in 2019/20 noting that these are likely to change as a new strategy is developed.

(2)          The taxonomy summarised in Fig 1 is used to frame the governance arrangements for the BWICP.

(3)          The governance structure as set out in Fig 2 is adopted for the new BW ICP.

(4)          The terms of reference for the BWICP Leadership Board, BW10 Executive and BW10 Delivery Group as set out in Appendices 5a-c of the main report are agreed.

(5)          The principles for resourcing the ICP as set out in section 5 are agreed.

To share the outcomes of the conference with the Board.

The Health and Wellbeing Board noted the report.

To make some amendments to the membership of the Health and Wellbeing Board.

The Board considered a report (Agenda Item 13) which proposed amendments to the membership of the Health and Wellbeing Board. Councillor Jones expressed the view that it was timely to consider the membership as the Board entered a new Municipal Year.

Cathy Winfield stated that in time it might be appropriate to consider the inclusion of representatives for the emerging Primary Care Networks.

The Board discussed employer representation and concluded that umbrella organisations rather than single companies would be a more inclusive approach. Dr Bal Bahia recognised that the Board engaged with employers through the Skills and Enterprise Partnership. He also questioned whether the Board’s agendas would facilitate employer engagement. The Board concluded to remove all seats for employer representatives at the Health and Wellbeing Board and encouraged further engagement to be pursued via the Skills and Enterprise Partnership.

The Board discussed the importance of arts and culture to health and wellbeing; they agreed to invite a representative from the sector so long as they represented a wide spectrum of organisations. The Board agreed to delegate the identification of a suitable representative to Councillor Jones.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Health and Wellbeing Board appoint the Head of Public Health and Wellbeing at West Berkshire Council as a member.

2.    That the number of named CCG representatives is reduced to two following the Berkshire West CCG merger.

3.    That the Board clarifies that one shadow portfolio holder for health and wellbeing from each Political Group on the Council may be a member of the Board.

4.    That the two seats for employer representatives are removed.

5.    That a representative, to be identified by Councillor Jones,  from the arts and culture sector be invited to join the Board.

To ensure that the Operational Plan aligns with the aims of the Health and Wellbeing Board.

The Health and Wellbeing Board noted the report.

There were no Member questions submitted.

The next public meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board will be held on 4 October 2019.

The next public meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board would be held on 4 October 2019.