| HSC.30 | Councillor Bury welcomed all those present to the meeting including the new Members of the Committee - Councillors Haroon, Parnell and Simpson and asked that thanks be recorded to the Members that had served on the Committee for the previous municipal year - Councillors Columbine, James and Tariq. |
| HSC.31 | Mrs Brenda Headley referred to priority 5 on page 22 of the Health and Wellbeing Strategy relating to the needs of older carers and how this priority would be achieved.
Councillor Shori explained that there were a number of different initiatives that were being rolled out for carers to take advantage of including a carers discount card. There were currently around 18,000 carers in Bury with only 3,000 of these being registered as carers and receiving support from the Council. It was hoped that by providing further initiatives, more carers would be identified and assisted.
There was also a new Carers Strategy that would be consulted on shortly and it was hoped that Mrs Headley would be involved in this piece of work.
A resident of Whitefield asked what day care facilities were available for vulnerable adults?
Councillor Shori explained that there were a number of different strategies in place that incorporated care for vulnerable adults including adults with mental health issues and social integration. The strategies fit under the Health and Wellbeing Strategy and were monitored by the Health and Wellbeing Board. It was also reported that there was currently work being carried out around current day care services reviewing what was provided and how this could be improved.
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| HSC.32 | Councillor Rishi Shori and Dr Kiran Patel presented Members with the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy that had been produced by the Health and Wellbeing Board in partnership with the local authority.
It was explained that the document contained a number of aspirations for the health and wellbeing of the borough’s residents.
The Strategy was a five year vision for improving health and wellbeing in the borough and it made four underpinning principles and identified five cross cutting priorities to help achieve this.
It was explained that the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy sat above a number of different operational strategies including the Joint Mental Health Strategy and the Autism Strategy that the Committee had received at their meeting on 21 March 2013.
The priorities identified in the strategy were informed by the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, other formal data sources such as the Census 2011 and by listening to the views of those living and working in the borough.
The four principles were reported as:-
• Promote and develop prevention, early intervention and self care.
• Reduce inequalities in Health and Wellbeing.
• Develop person centred services.
• Plan for future demands
The priorities were explained as:-
• Ensuring a positive start to life for children, young people and families.
• Encouraging healthy lifestyle and behaviours in all actions and
activities.
• Helping to build strong communities, wellbeing and mental health.
• Promoting independence of people living with long term conditions and their carers.
• Supporting older people to be safe, independent and well.
It was explained that the next steps were to translate the strategy into action and develop detailed implementation plans as part of the annual work programme.
The Health and Wellbeing Board was the principal body for making sure that the actions and outcomes set out within the strategy are delivered.
The Health and Wellbeing Strategy would be monitored and reviewed regularly and revised annually and the Health Scrutiny Committee will receive regular progress reports from the Health and Wellbeing Board. An annual report will also be produced for the wider public.
Members of the Committee were given the opportunity to make comments and ask questions and the following points were raised:-
• Councillor Bury referred to the fact that the strategy contained aspirations without any forward plans on how these would be achieved. Councillor Bury asked whether a long term forward plan would be developed.
It was explained that the Health and Wellbeing Board would be monitoring the Strategy and there would be regular refreshes. It was also anticipated that the Health Scrutiny Committee would receive regular updates on the Health and Wellbeing Strategy and the operational strategies underneath it.
• Councillor Simpson referred to the Township Forum Plans that were being discussed at each Township Forum Meeting during the coming few weeks and asked how these would feed into the Health and Wellbeing Strategy.
Graham Atkinson explained that the Health and Wellbeing Board worked closely with the Communications section of the Council. The Township Forums came under this section and therefore any issues within specific townships could be fed into the Strategy that way. It was also explained that the Health and Wellbeing Board had attended each Township Forum to report on and discuss the strategy with those in attendance at the meetings.
Graham reported that there had been a number of different engagement opportunities that the Health and Wellbeing Board had taken advantage of including working closely with Bury’s Third Sector
Development Agency (B3DSA) and various voluntary organisations, attendance at key public buildings, events in local venues and an online and paper survey as well as the attendance at the Township Forums.
A task and finish Group within the Health and Wellbeing Board had been established to work through and produce the Draft Strategy. Members from the Health and Wellbeing partner organisations were included in the Task and Finish Group.
• Councillor Parnell referred to lower life expectancy and quality of life for residents in certain areas of the borough and asked whether the Strategy had considered this issue and the fact that it was a number of factors that.
Councillor Shori explained that this issue was recognised and the Health and Wellbeing Strategy has accounted for it. It was also explained that the issue was something that covered whole generations and it wouldn’t be possible be solved overnight. A multi agency approach would be used which would bring together lots of different agencies who could work together to tackle the different elements involved.
Dr Patel explained that the issue of lower life expectancy and the contributory factors could not be dealt with as a ‘one solution fits all’. The strategy would allow for other solutions to be investigated and different ways of working to be provided.
Graham explained that all agencies involved with the Health and Wellbeing Strategy and its implementation would be communicating with each other regularly and sharing intelligence as required.
• Councillor Fitzwalter asked whether the mapping information that had been used as background information to the Strategy could be shared with the Township Forums as it would assist with the Township Plans and their contents and aims.
Graham stated that he would take this back and pass the information to the Communications Team who would pass it onto the Township co-ordinators.
• Councillor Fitzwalter referred to the ‘Virtual Hub’ that was mentioned within the Strategy and asked for more information on how this would work and whether Councillors could become members also.
It was explained that the Hub will be a way that all groups can connect virtually. It will be a web based facility that allows members to talk to each other and share experiences and for involving service users and other members of the public in working groups or task groups.
• Councillor Holt talked about people taking responsibility for their own health and wellbeing but also asked what Public Health and the Council could do to help people. Some people had very unhealthy lifestyles and this would be a challenge.
Councillor Shori explained that healthy living and lifestyles should be embedded as early as possible in a person’s life course. Behavioural changes could also be implemented that would be across the whole town, county or even country. Examples of behavioural changes were given and included soft changes such as changes to licensing powers, unit pricing for alcohol, blank labelling for cigarettes etc to hard changes such as the smoking ban in public work and places.
It was also explained that consideration needed to be given on where information came from and this would need to be reviewed depending on the person receiving the message.
• Councillor Simpson asked what was being done to ensure that people were using services appropriately and not adding strain to already stretched services.
It was explained that a campaign had been carried out recently which had successfully seen a drop in unnecessary attendances at the A & E department at Fairfield General Hospital. This was something that could be refreshed and was within the Clinical Commissioning Group’s operational policies.
• Councillor O’Hanlon stated that he was disappointed with the document, its contents and the references within in. He felt that there should be more information relating to how changes and improvements would be made and by whom. There was also a lack of strategic links to other Council policies such as the Local Development Framework.
Councillor Shori explained that the Strategy sat above a whole range of different documents, some of which were still being developed. An Operational Plan and a performance monitoring framework would be produced, Scrutiny would receive these.
• Councillor Hussain referred to the fact that this was the first time that this joint document had been produced with all of the partners and they should be congratulated on their achievement. Councillor Hussain also referred to page 25 of the document where the next steps were set out.
Dr Patel explained that this was a new way of working for the partners involved and it wasn’t purely about target measuring. It was a very long term piece of work with complexities.
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| HSC.33 | It was reported that the next meeting of the Health Scrutiny Committee would take place on Wednesday 19 June 2013 at 7:00pm in the Peel Room. This meeting would be a planning event for the Health Scrutiny Committee’s Work Programme.
An extra meeting would be arranged for early July to consider the Integrated Service Plan.
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