Agenda item

Purpose: To update the Health and Wellbeing Board on the progress with the Joint Forward Plan. To introduce the key areas of focus, summarise key areas of feedback received and remind the Health and Wellbeing Board of the formal opportunity to provide an opinion ‘on whether the draft takes proper account of local health and wellbeing strategy’.

Rob Bowen, Integrated Care Board (ICB) Acting Director of Strategy and Partnerships, presented the report on the Joint Forward Plan (Agenda Item 8).

Members of the Health and Wellbeing Board were invited to provide feedback on the draft Joint Forward Plan and it was confirmed that there would be a formal request from the ICB in June for the Health and Wellbeing Board to confirm how well the Plan aligned to / supported the Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy (JLHWS) for Berkshire West.

It was acknowledged that the recent workshop to discuss the Plan had been a very useful and positive event with good levels of engagement. It was felt that the right messages had been communicated to the ICB, but there was some cynicism about how the vision could be achieved given the current pressures and the fact that the health system was starting from a deficit position.

Rob Bowen was thanked for his work in developing the Plan.

The Board welcomed the commitment to an increased focus on prevention activity and asked what the Council could do to support this. It was acknowledged that there was a challenge to balance short and long-term priorities, but the ICB was seeking to lay the foundations for long-term change.

It was noted that housing was a critical area and there was a need for more and better quality housing. It was suggested that the Council needed to have more influence, particularly in relation to smaller social / private landlords, since tenants often struggled to engage with them. The ICB acknowledged that wider determinants of health (such as housing) were important.

It was highlighted that GP surgeries were key points of contact for residents, but they had become less accessible since Covid and had been overwhelmed with enquiries. It was suggested that expanded health centres could provide one-stop shops. The ICB acknowledged the critical role of GP practices in providing support to patients and in supporting the shift in care from acute to community settings. It was confirmed that a five year strategy would be developed over the coming 12 months which would ensure that any models put in place were sustainable.

The Board recognised that there were lots of layers and strategies within the health system, and stressed the need for efficient working practices to avoid greatly increasing the number of meetings.

It was suggested that self-care was a critical aspect, since there were increasing numbers of older people with multiple conditions who were exerting huge pressures on the NHS. It was stressed that the NHS only accounted for 10% of care and there was a need to build resilience and develop knowledge of how to manage common conditions (e.g. through peer support). Also, it was suggested that patients should be encouraged to plan for the rest of their lives once they got to their 60s.

Discharge from hospital was highlighted as another important issue and it was suggested that the housing sector should be represented on hospital boards. It was noted that while the overall care market was challenging, domiciliary care was OK. It was confirmed that a strengths based approach was applied and the aim was to keep people independent for as long as possible.

Action: Paul Coe agreed to brief Professor John Ashton on challenges and actions being taken in relation to acute care and hospital discharge.

It was suggested that there was currently insufficient investment in communications and engagement. There was a need to drive behavioural change and to involve patients in decision making. All parties needed to be bought into the prevention agenda, with solutions focused on healthy lifestyles rather than tablets.

Actions:

·         The Board was encouraged to visit the ICB’s public engagement site and to highlight at an early stage if there was anything in the Joint Forward Plan that was considered to be problematic.

·         The Health and Wellbeing Board Sub-Groups were encouraged to engage with the Joint Forward Plan individually or jointly.

RESOLVED to note the report.