Agenda and minutes

None received.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 3 March 2022 be confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

None received.

The Board received a report (and presentation) on the Staffordshire Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy, which had been previously discussed at the March 2022 meeting of the Board.

The draft strategy was discussed and final amendments agreed. The final version incorporated these amendments and was recommended for approval by the Board.

The Board were informed of the previous discussions around Good Mental Health, Healthy Weight and Healthy Ageing. Since then, a further scoping exercise had been carried out to identify existing work programmes as well as issues for the Board to consider and additional work required.

Performance indicators would be identified for each of the four outcomes to allow measurement of the progress of the strategy for each priority area.

The recommendation to the Board was that the Sponsor/Lead for each priority would provide a full report against each priority annually, including any actions underway, progress against said outcomes and any additional action required, with the necessary local context, public and professional input. Volunteers for the sponsors and leads for each priority would be sought and an update brought to the next meeting.

Comments from Members of the Board centred around the Healthy Ageing priority and the need for societal change on deaths at home. The question was raised around whether it was appropriate for the performance indicator to be included.

It was agreed that the indicators lean more towards a deficit model rather than a strengths-based approach. It was therefore proposed that the indicators could be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure they meet a strengths-based approach of working.

It was also noted that a performance indicator could be included for the Health in early life priority on the good state of development as children start school.

Resolved – The Board was asked to:

a)   Approve the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2022-2027;

b)   Note the issues for the Board to consider and additional work required for each priority;

c)   Identify a Board Sponsor and Lead for each priority; and

d)   Approve the outcomes and reporting cycle for each priority. 

The Board received a presentation from Tamsin Fisher, Research Associate at Keele University on optimising the Fire and Rescue Service ‘Safe and Well’ visits to support the detection and sign-posting for mental health problems in older adults.

Background to mental ill health was provided to the Board and the methods of investigation that had taken place so far, which included:

-       20 observations of Fire and Rescue Service Safe and Well visits with older adults

-       20 interviews with older adults

-       3 focus groups with staff (including operational crews, technicians and Community Support Officers)

-       5 interviews with managers and trainers

-       20 interviews with health and social care stakeholders

-       Stakeholder workshops

-       PPIE support

Key findings were presented to the Board which showed an everyday exposure to mental health problems; an awareness and training needs to provide adequate support; support and training needs to better understand mental health conditions of clients and themselves.

Reflections from the Fire and Rescue Service welcomed being part of the project and looked forward to the findings. The project allowed them to have a better understanding of mental health and the impact it was having within the wider community. This would require the engagement and support of all partners to ensure the safety, health and wellbeing for all was improved.

The Board were informed that the Fire and Recue Service were adopting the National Fire Chiefs Council’s (NFCC) Persons Centred Framework which would give staff and volunteers additional skills and knowledge. The project findings would help inform the development of the framework.

Resolved – That the presentation be noted.

The Board received a report from Emma Sandbach on the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) for Staffordshire.

The Board were reminded of what the PNA is and that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the deadline for publication had been extended to the 1^st October 2022. A statutory consultation period of 60 days would take place where the public and partner organisations could comment on the document. The document would then be updated ready for publication by the deadline. The consultation was due to start mid/late June 2022 and end mid/late August 2022.

It was proposed that the Board delegate authority to consider the response to the consultation, amend the draft and approval the final version of the PNA to the Chair(s) in order to meet the publication deadline.

The Board were informed of initial headlines from the PNA which included population statistics, changes in pharmaceutical services and new services planned for 2022.

Resolved – The Board were asked to:

a)   Note the contents of the report;

b)   Support and feedback any comments about pharmaceutical services in Staffordshire during the consultation period; and

c)   Delegate authority to consider the response to the consultation, amend the draft and approve the final version of the PNA, to the Chair(s).

The Board received a report and presentation from Natasha Moody and Helen Riley, Staffordshire County Council on the ‘Working Together Protocol – Strategic Partnership Boards in Staffordshire’.

The Board were informed of the current situation with regard to the governance structure and connectivity across statutory Boards. Other local areas have adopted a partnership protocol, the purpose of which was to provide more efficiency and better outcomes.

The benefits of the protocol would:

-       Ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of people in Staffordshire are collectively addressed;

-       Identify the lead partnership and respective responsibilities and priorities;

-       Provide clarity of focus for each partnership body;

-       Share appropriate information across partnerships and member organisations to provide greater depth to issues;

-       Where there are shared problems, boards would work together to formulate solutions by taking a joined-up approach; and

-       Ensure that a shared approach to reviews of serious cases in the county and the learning to emerge from these informs the right partnerships.

Next steps have been defined which included:

-       Chairs continue to meet and discuss joint work and how they can work better together;

-       Share board priorities to agree clarity of leadership of agendas moving forwards and also understand partners perspectives on the on the priorities; and

-       Map the governance for each of the boards to provide opportunities to review and better alignment with existing structures.

The Board welcomed the approach and agreed that feedback would be provided via email. Jon Topham was nominated as the operational lead from the Board for this piece of work.

Resolved – The Board were asked to:

a)       Review, provide feedback and ultimately endorse the partnership protocol;

b)       Review and provide an organogram for the boards sub-reporting structures; and

c)       Share the boards plans with the chairs of the other strategic boards to agree the leadership and reporting of shared agendas moving forward.

The Board received a report and presentation from Baz Tameez, Healthwatch Staffordshire Manager, who provided an update on the new Healthwatch Staffordshire service, with an emphasis on how it looks different to that before.

The Board were informed that Support Staffordshire were awarded a three-year contract to run a refreshed Healthwatch Staffordshire which commenced 1^st April 2022.

As part of the governance for the new arrangements, a Healthwatch Committee had been established which holds delegated decision-making powers to set the Healthwatch agenda.

The new organisational structure for Healthwatch Staffordshire is as follows:

-      1x Healthwatch Staffordshire Manager

-      4x Engagement Officers

-      1x Project Worker / Data Analyst

The Board were also informed of ongoing collaborative working and engagement work, which included the establishment of a Healthwatch Intelligence Network which sought to engage multiple platforms for gathering health and social care data.

The report also denoted focal topics which would be the subject for investigation. Year one focal investigations would be based on lessons learned through the pandemic. Potential year one topics included:

-      Health in parents of young children

-      Root causes of good and poor teenage mental wellbeing

-      Health outcomes when you have been in care as a child

-      Healthy and unhealthy places of work

-      My health is not just my disability/diagnosis

-      Being an LGBTQIA+ patient/resident in the health and care system

-      Accessing primary care face to face, when I want to and when I need to

-      The role of and accessibility of residential care by friends and family

-      How and why, we ignore the inevitability of death and dying

-      Frailty

-      Older people accessing services

-      Transitions in/out of hospital

The Board were informed that Healthwatch Staffordshire would be working with partners to ensure good local health and care information, advice and guidance was available and accessible, along with engaging with statutory organisations, partnership and Boards to present any findings and influence system change. Joint guidance had been produced and a working relationship established with the Staffordshire Health and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Resolved – That the contents of the report be noted.

Resolved – That the Forward Plan for 2022/23 be received and noted.

Resolved – That the date, time and venue of the next meeting of the Board (Thursday 8^th September at 2:00pm in the Oak Room, County Buildings, Stafford), be noted.