Agendas, Meetings and Minutes - Issue

Issue - meetings

Health Improvement Group

Meeting: 25/02/2020 - Health and Wellbeing Board (Item 562)

562 Health Improvement Group pdf icon PDF 103 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Rachael Leslie updated the Board on the Health Improvement Group, a sub-group of the Health and Well-being Board which focussed on local, district delivery of the Board’s priorities: keeping physically active at every age, reducing harm from alcohol and good mental well-being.

 

Presentations had been received from Bromsgrove and Wychavon regarding their Health Improvement Plans. Briefings had been received around child poverty, substance misuse, Early Help, Making Every Contact Count, Warmer Worcestershire and loneliness.

 

The previous HIG bi-annual report had encouraged a push to increase the scale of the activities done by the Districts and had also mentioned that attendance at HIG meetings had not been consistently good. Attendance at the meetings had improved over the last few meetings and consequently Districts had found out what was going on with health improvement and health promotion. New members had received an induction on the data which was available.

 

The Board discussed various areas:

·       The Substance Misuse Needs Assessment appeared to show that actions were not being successful in reducing problems: the numbers seeking help, numbers drinking alcohol at a level hazardous to health and deaths caused by drug misuse were increasing. It was explained that the Substance Misuse Needs Assessment set the scene for the current situation this then highlighted where further work was necessary although it should be noted that a new service had been commissioned for substance misuse from 1st April. Outside the service which had been commissioned there was a primary prevention role in reducing alcohol use in the general population, a role which may need to be taken up by the STP.

 

·       It was agreed that a stocktake of existing plans and services should be considered by the Board along with looking at what could be done, what primary prevention could be implemented and whether existing services were working. This should link to mental health providers.

 

·       It was clarified that District Councils used HIG meetings to share ideas about what worked well with the individual District Health Improvement Plans.

 

·       Worcestershire Children First were happy for Public Health to take the lead with child poverty and WCF would support strategically.

 

·       Making Every Contact Count training would give staff the skills and confidence to have a brief, opportunistic conversation around improving lifestyles and could be delivered by a 30 minutes on-line training session, face to face or through train the trainer sessions. It was hoped that more training sessions could be organised for NHS organisations. Contracts with Voluntary Organisations and Social Care companies included the requirement that all staff should be MECC trained.

 

RESOLVED that the Health and Well-being Board:

a)     Considered and commented on progress made by the Health Improvement Group between June 2019 and December 2019, and

b)    Would ensure that each organisation represented by the Board plays an active part in the delivery of the Joint Health and Well-being Strategy and would fully participate in providing the necessary updates and information for the reporting of progress.