Agenda item

To agree West Berkshire Health and Wellbeing Board’s formal response to the Joint Forward Plan produced by the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board.

Rob Bowen (Acting Director of Strategy and Partnerships, BOB ICB) presented the Joint Forward Plan (JFP) (Agenda Item 4).

The Board was invited to comment on the JFP or ask questions of the ICB.

A question was asked about whether the views of young people and their parents / carers had been sought to inform the Joint Forward Plan. It was explained that a wide range of stakeholders had been involved. A series of focus groups had been held, which included various voluntary / community sector organisations, and there had been an emphasis on the ‘start well’ aspects. Although there had not been direct engagement with children and young people so far, the ICB aimed to do this in future. It was stressed that the JFP was an annual plan. All parties had been feeling their way with this first version, and it was recognised that there were things that could be done better for the next version. The ICB indicated that it would welcome ideas, advice and support about how to better engage with children and young people in future.

Paul Coe (Executive Director – People) presented the Board’s draft formal response to the JFP.

The Board was invited to comment on the Board’s draft response.

It was noted that the response was similar to that of the Reading Health and Wellbeing Board in that the JFP was broadly supported and it was seen as the first stage in a longer journey. It was suggested that integrated action by partners at the ‘place’ level would be critical to delivery of change, but concern was expressed that the default position would be high level, NHS-based activity. It was stressed that the Health and Wellbeing Board and the Director of Public Health had key roles to play in ensuring integration of activities across all partners, but there were issues about capacity. It was stressed that Berkshire West did not exist as an entity, so the focus needed to be on the contribution of each Council and Health and Wellbeing Board and delivery of the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

Members praised the honesty that was evident in the JFP, particularly in recognising the shortcomings of available data. It was recognised that there were challenges associated with certainty of future funding levels and that things may need to change as these were confirmed. Workforce issues were also recognised as a key challenge and it was suggested ways needed to be found to make people want to stay in the NHS.

Members felt that the proposed response referenced the key points. However, it was suggested that the Board was too remote in terms of how the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy was performing and regular updates were requested, which gave assurance about alignment with the JFP.

It was noted that the voluntary and community sector had interacted with the JFP development process. An alliance had been established between the voluntary sectors across the BOB area and it was felt that the sector had been well-heard, with ample opportunities to input to the JFP.

It was highlighted that the JFP referred to tackling tobacco and alcohol consumption, which were Public Health functions, which suggested that there was a clear need for integrated working.

Councillor Janine Lewis proposed to accept the report’s recommendation and agree the proposed response to the JFP. This was seconded by Councillor Jo Stewart. At the vote, the motion was carried.

RESOLVED to agree the contents of Appendix A for inclusion in the final Plan.