Agenda item

Lucy Chick, Senior Public Health Practitioner, thanked everyone who had provided feedback through the consultation. The Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy (JLHWS) had been developed by using the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and various other evidence and it had been decided that the overarching priority for the next 10 years should be good mental health and wellbeing. Following extensive consultation a large proportion of respondents supported this priority.

There would also be a focus on early intervention and prevention and the wider determinants of health. Action plans would be created to support delivery with more detailed outcome measures included.

The Being Well Strategic Group would support the delivery of the JLHWS. An easy read version of the JLHWS would be produced.

During the ensuing discussion the following main points were made:

·       The Chairman thanked the 1,627 people who responded to the consultation, as well as the Public Health team and partners for all the work they had put into the development of the JLHWS

·       In response to a query about how the JLHWS fit with the Integrated Care System (ICS), there was an acknowledgment that there were differences between Herefordshire and Worcestershire, but there would be joint approaches where possible

·       When asked whether the JLHWS linked well enough to the ICS and sufficiently addressed healthcare provision, it was cited that the JLHWS listed the ambitions which included supporting access to appropriate services and contributing to the work of the Mental Health Collaborative. The NHS contribution to the JLHWS would be through the Worcestershire Executive Committee (WEC) and where implementation at a place level would be overseen. The Chair noted that the JLHWS showed how important the District Councils were in the delivery of the JLHWS. Many of the wider determinants of health sat with the District Councils

·       There was a concern about how peoples’ behaviours could be changed and members stressed the need for the system culture to focus on prevention rather than cure at local levels

·       Board members felt that the team who produced the JLHWS should be congratulated. The process by which the strategy had been developed was clear and the end result could be understood. It was now up to partners to make something of it and implement through their organisations

·       There was a query about the outcome measures as it was felt that the Worcestershire Viewpoint Survey was a weak method of getting data. It was anticipated that the outcome measures would be re-assessed, but there needed to be some consistency. It was felt that there should be a customer experience measures included, for example how easy it was to identify and then access a particular service in different areas of the County. It was queried whether there needed to be more work on benchmarking and looking for best practice examples from other areas. The Chairman responded that that could be done through the action plans.

·       It was important that the JLHWS went through the necessary governance processes at District Councils and representatives agreed that it would, to seek to endorse and commit to shared delivery

·       It was queried whether there would be opportunity for the Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector to continue to contribute to the JLHWS. It was clarified that the JLHWS was being signed off by the Board at the meeting and there should not be further considerations and action to implement it should now begin

·       It was felt that the relationship between the Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB), Integrated Care Partnership Assembly (ICPA) and WEC was unclear and it would be useful if the governance structure could be clarified at a HWB development session to ensure that the system does not get overloaded with bureaucracy.

RESOLVED that the Health and Wellbeing Board:

a)     approved and committed to the final draft of the Worcestershire Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2022-2032 (the Strategy); and

b)     noted the next steps and supported the creation of action plans to support the delivery of the Strategy.