Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Helen Tomlinson and Marie Wilson was attending in her place.

Members of the Health and Wellbeing Board are asked to consider whether they have an interest in any of the matters on the Agenda, and if so, to formally declare that interest.

Councillor Tamoor Tariq advised that he was a member of Oldham‘s Health and Wellbeing Board and Locality Board, and was employed as the manager of Healthwatch Oldham.

The minutes of the meeting held on 28 March 2023 are attached.

It was agreed:

That, subject to an amendment to the attendance, the minutes of the meeting held on 28 March 2023 be approved as a correct record.

There were no matters arising.

The terms of reference of the Board are attached for information.

The Board received its Terms of Reference, noting the statutory requirements and the Board’s elective focus on health inequalities. Members discussed measures by which to monitor performance and Jon Hobday advised that these were being worked up and could come to the next meeting.

It was agreed:

1.    That the Terms of Reference be noted; and

2.    Performance measures be considered at the next meeting.

Questions are invited from members of the public present at the meeting on any matters for which the Board is responsible.

Approximately 30 minutes will be set aside for Public Question Time, if required.

There were no public questions asked at the meeting.

Jon Hobday, Director of Public Health to provide a verbal update.

Jon Hobday, Director of Public Health, gave a verbal update on the on the Anti-Poverty Strategy and the work that had been done to date. This included three anti-poverty summits which had facilitated cross-partnership working to agree the way forward to get the biggest impact and support the most vulnerable people.

Cath Farrell queried how information was publicised and offered to feed back information to education colleagues. Jon advised that education links attended the fortnightly steering group meetings and fed back accordingly but undertook to share details to see if she could help publicise more widely.

Jon was commended on his work in this area and his leadership on the anti-poverty summits, and Cath was thanked for her offer to help with dissemination of information.

It was agreed:

1.    That Jon Hobday liaise with Cath Farrell regarding the sharing of information with education colleagues; and

2.    That the information be noted.

Maxine Lomax, Chair of Bury Integrated safeguarding Board to present the attached reports.

Maxine Lomax, Chair of Bury Integrated Safeguarding Board, presented the Adult’s section of the Combined Annual Review published by the Bury Integrated Safeguarding Partnership (BISP), which focused on the work undertaken by the BISP and its partners in relation to Adults in the period April 2021 to March 2022. Members received the report, and it noting that this report predated considerable work to the structure and support and the 2022-23 should be available in September.

It was agreed:

That the report be received.

Steven Senior, Public Health Consultant to present the attached report.

Steven Senior, Chair of the Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) for Oldham, Bury and Rochdale (ORB), presented the annual report for April 2020 – March 2021 and draft annual report for 2021-2022.

He advised that the CDOP reviewed all deaths of those under 18 who were resident in Bury, Oldham or Rochdale at the time of their death to identify common and modifiable factors and make recommendations to help prevent deaths from the same causes. It was noted the Panel did not check whether recommendations were implemented, and reviews were carried out at the end of a long process with the deaths not necessarily from that year.

Board Members noted that pandemic measures had reduced child mortality rates e.g. from traffic accidents, but that key risk factors for deaths in children in ORB remained, including :

·         Parental smoking including maternal smoking in pregnancy;

·         Unsafe sleeping;

·         Genetic conditions;

·         Other risk factors for sudden, unexpected, and unexplained deaths including drug and alcohol use, poor housing and low rates of breastfeeding;

·         Barriers to healthcare access including translation services.

He advised that the implementation of the e-CDOP system would provide more granular and standardised information, which will be beneficial moving forwards. Data was analysed on a socio-economic basis and highlighted inequalities and areas of deprivation. It was noted that data suggested BME child deaths were over-represented and therefore there was a health inequality associated with ethnicity. To mitigate for limitations in analysis due to small datasets, the report recommended looking at data over a three-year period. This would increase the ability to identify any patterns and themes.

Members thanked Steven for his presentation and discussed the report, noting the significance of the role of family hubs and querying public health messaging. Family hubs were a crucial intervention, bringing together multiagency expertise informed by neighbourhoods and place. It was noted that data from longer time periods would help inform more meaningful conclusions regarding child deaths, and identifying factors could then be assessed as to which were more prevalent for BME communities.

The Board discussed public health messaging, noting that these were consistent at all levels of staffing and were being shared, but that messages weren’t always heard or taken forward in certain families or communities and more work was needed to engage with them. Members discussed the role Six Town Housing could play, and noted their neighbourhood access and intelligence could be fed through Housing Partnership meetings.

It was agreed:

That the reports be received.

Sarah Turton and Lee Buggie, Public Health Practitioner to present the attached report/ presentation.

Sarah Turton, Public Health Practitioner, and Lee Buggie, Public Health Specialist, gave a presentation on initiatives to reduce smoking levels in Bury. They advised that smoking rates had fallen locally in recent years, but outlined further work to tackle cohorts where smoking prevalence is highest (such as those with long term mental health issues). They detailed the Live Well Service and Swap to Stop pilot, and advised on the GM-led initiatives such as the Smokefree Pregnancy Programme and the CURE programme.

The Board discussed the presentation, noting the influence of wider determinants, environment and community. Smoking was entrenched for many people and widened existing health inequalities. Sarah advised that targeted interventions were a priority for the coming year, in particular those with long term mental health issues.

Sarah and Lee were thanked for their presentation, and it was noted that an update would be brought back in due course.

It was agreed:

That the report be noted.

There are no items for consideration under this quadrant.

Jon Hobday and his team were thanked for his ongoing work in relation to reducing health inequalities, an update on which had been circulated via email.

Will Blandamer, Director of Strategic Commissioning to present the item.

Will Blandamer, Executive Director of Strategic Commissioning, positioned the Health and Wellbeing Board in the wider partnership arrangements in the borough, and advised that the Board had a role in challenging other parts of the infrastructure.

The Board noted that a Team Bury event on health inequalities was taking place in Autumn, and discussed the Board’s role in ensuring development of systems, services and regeneration had a focus on health and wellbeing. It was agreed that an update on regeneration and growth plans be presented at a future meeting.

It was agreed:

1.    That an update on regeneration and growth plans be presented at a future meeting; and

2.    That the report be noted.

Jon Hobday, Director of Public Health to provide a verbal update.

Jon Hobday, Director of Public Health, provided an update from the Greater Manchester Population Health Board. It had last met on 10 May 2023 and had considered the Fairer Health for All framework, proposed areas of focus and strategic priority areas, and deep dives for 2023/24. The Board noted that papers could be shared on request.

It was agreed:

That the update be noted.

Any other business which by reason of special circumstances the Chair agrees may be considered as a matter of urgency.

There was no urgent business.