Agenda and minutes

Venue: Virtual Meeting - Online access

Contact: Mark Beeley  01628 796345

Video Stream: Click here to watch this meeting on YouTube

Items
No. Item

206/15

Apologies for Absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Tessa Lindfield and Tracy Hendren.

207/15

Declarations of Interest pdf icon PDF 219 KB

To receive any Declarations of Interest.

Minutes:

Councillor Carroll declared a personal interest as he works for a pharmaceutical company, Sanofi Pasteur. Councillor Carroll declared his employment in the interests of full transparency and to highlight that should for any reason during any point of the meeting, or indeed during future meetings, the HWB discussed anything directly related to Sanofi Pastuer’s business he would abstain from the discussion and leave the room as required.

208/15

Minutes pdf icon PDF 85 KB

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 14th January 2020.

Minutes:

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY; That the minutes of the meeting held on 14th January 2020 were agreed as a true and accurate record.

209/15

CCG Collaborative Strategic Priorities

To receive an update on the above titled item.

Minutes:

Caroline Farrar, Executive Managing Director RBWM, explained the current priorities and that objectives had been given to staff that were relevant to the current situation. Restoration, recovery and patient needs had created a new health and care landscape. Public health had taken a huge burden during the pandemic but had provided a better model of care and the positive changes learnt would be taken forward.

 

The Chairman asked how things had been going during the pandemic. Huw Thomas said that primary care had changed significantly. Patients had been helped via email as the digital agenda had moved forward significantly. They had been working closely with colleagues in secondary care which had resulted in more services opening up. However, the need for PPE and other measures meant that services and appointments were taking longer to be delivered, especially with a reduced capacity. Planning had also started for how to deal with any potential issues heading into winter.

 

The Chairman commented that a lot of good work had been done in challenging times. Huw Thomas said that both volunteers and the general public had been fantastic and had really come together. The Chairman agreed and said that those that needed help the most had been identified and reached.

 

Councillor Stimson apologised for missing the start of the meeting. Looking at the recovery, she asked what some of the definite changes would look like. She said that it was important to seize the opportunity.

 

Caroline Farrar said that practices had adapted in different ways, some of which were not sustainable in the long term. They had been looking at the ways to shape this using online consultation tools. Huw Thomas explained that at his surgery, they had been encouraging patients to refer for an opinion, ensuring that people stayed at home where possible. Face to face appointments were limited, whereas options like a telephone consultation were preferred for a better patient experience. He said that it was likely to cause a large cultural change in how services were offered.

 

Councillor Coppinger asked if the space that was used in practices would be considered as part of the change. Caroline Farrar said it was something that was being considered but at this stage it was uncertain what capacity would like look.

210/15

Community Deal - the journey from shielding to community hubs

To receive a verbal report on the above titled item.

Minutes:

Hilary Hall, Director of Adults, Health and Commissioning, said that RBWM had looked at the community response to the pandemic, particularly with those that had been shielding, and how to better help communities. ‘Be a good neighbour’ was a slogan that had been used, with WAM Get Involved playing a key role and being a central point where help could be given and received. Over 750 residents had volunteered, and many staff had volunteered to man the telephone lines and undertake calls to shielded individuals, which could be done from home. Over half of this number have said that they would like to continue volunteering for the council. 50 different groups had been supported with £20,000 of grant funding and groups had been added to an asset map on the website. Around 150 RBWM staff had been redeployed over the last few months to help and Community Wardens had been working closely with groups.

 

A lot had been learnt from the pandemic and it was especially important that the right support was given at the right time from the right service. Hilary Hall said that her team had received great feedback from residents and they were keen to focus on strengths, particularly what people were good at. An interactive volunteer page had been created, with 750 volunteers registered in just 8 weeks. There was also an asset map that had recently been created and that further projects to connect community groups together would be ongoing. Updates would be provided to the Health and Wellbeing Board and it was hoped that the pilot in Clewer and Dedworth would be a blueprint for the future.

 

The Chairman said that the level of volunteering had been fantastic. He asked if there was any way of encouraging more volunteers in future. Hilary Hall explained that it was important to provide an attractive offer to volunteers, for example by providing an opportunity to improve their skills and development.

 

Councillor Rayner said that she admired the work done and Covid had helped neighbours and communities come together. There had been a tremendous community response and charities wanted to help, both in the short and long term.

 

The Chairman agreed that this was an important point and was about people pulling together. He said that there were ambitious plans in place to ensure the volunteering level remained high.

 

Councillor Stimson said that at her local surgery they had been grateful for all the work and support that RBWM had given them.  Something that needed to be focussed on though was mental health and wellbeing. She said that she hoped the great things that have happened would be continued.

 

The Chairman said that mental health was a very important issue. There had been a behaviour change during the pandemic as people were rethinking their daily lives and routines. There was an opportunity to capitalise, especially when doing things remotely.

211/15

Update on the Frimley Integrated Care Strategy

To receive an update on the above titled item.

Minutes:

Jane Hogg, Director of Transformation at the Frimley ICS, explained that there were six main ambitions of the Frimley Integrated Care Strategy. These were; starting well, focus on wellbeing, community deals, our people, leadership & culture, and outstanding use of resources. A survey had recently been undertaken which looked at health and wellbeing during the pandemic. 82% of respondents said that they felt their health and wellbeing was good, while 73% said that their health and care needs had been met. The main themes that had come out of the survey included:

·         Remote virtual working

·         Good communication

·         Ethos of coming together and collaboration

·         Compassionate leadership and wellbeing

·         Innovation

 

Slough had shown conditions for a disproportionate impact from Covid-19 and work was being done in the hospital sector to close this gap and mitigate the impact. Looking towards the future and next steps, there was a need for national funding to increase capacity and to develop any efficiency plans, particularly as equipment needed to be cleaned after each use. There had been huge benefits from the partnership and enhanced working and there was an ambition to keep this going.

 

Councillor Rayner left the meeting.

212/15

Local Outbreak Control Plan and Local Outbreak Engagement Board pdf icon PDF 884 KB

To receive a presentation on the above titled item.

Minutes:

Anna Richards, Consultant in Public Health, said that RBWM had a duty to produce an outbreak and control plan by 30th June 2020. This had been signed off by Duncan Sharkey, Managing Director and Tessa Lindfield, Strategic Director of Public Health. The priority was to keep residents safe from Covid-19. There was a total of 411 confirmed positive cases as of 20th July 2020, with 12 cases in the period 7th-20th July. There was 272.4 culminate cases per 100,000 of the population at this time. On a rolling average, this was 0.6 per 100,000 of the population which was relatively low compared to other local authorities.

 

The plan involved a number of key themes, with the focus being on managing risks locally in a number of settings across borough. Anna Richards explained how the notification process worked and that it was important at each stage of the process to keep the public informed. Managing the risk was a team effort and a number of organisations were involved in the plan. Next steps included keeping the plan up to date with guidance being provided on particular scenarios and how to deal with them.

 

The Chairman said that there was a lot of detail and focus in the plan and that it would be able to respond effectively if needed.

213/15

Mental health local action plan

To hear an update on the above titled item.

Minutes:

Anna Richards said that the action plan was very thorough and looked at five main areas, with a total of 40 actions related to the plan. She said that she could circulate the plan with colleagues and bring it back to the next Health and Wellbeing Board meeting.

 

The Chairman said that it was sometimes important to signpost residents towards services, and wondered how RBWM was going about doing this. Anna Richards said the plan would be updated to reflect signposting and ensure that residents were aware of what services were available.

 

Kevin McDaniel, Director of Children’s Services, said that RBWM had recently increased the number of online resources available to young people. There had been an uptake in training that CCG provided in mental health awareness and that there was also support from the Early Help team. A national green paper was currently going through Parliament which would help improve support for mental health.

 

The Chairman said that in his role as Lead Member for Adult and Children’s Services he would ask questions of Nadine Dorries, who was the Minister responsible for Mental Health. It had been a hard time for many people and was something that should be discussed again at the next meeting.

214/15

Update on the Better Care Fund pdf icon PDF 111 KB

To receive a presentation on the Better Care Fund.

Minutes:

Lynne Lidster, Head of Commissioning – People, gave an update on the Better Care Fund. She explained that the Better Card Fund for 2019/20 was approved but the guidance for the following year had not yet been produced and was likely to come out in September. Ambitions for the Better Care Fund included a non-elective admission of 19,000, with month 10 forecast being 14,000. This was 22% better than the target. The target of moving patients out of hospital within 11 days had been suspended by the government during the pandemic. Other targets had been achieved.

 

Looking at the finances, the total fund for 2020/21 was £13.7 million. All but £100,000 of this amount had already been allocated, so this could be spent on other things over the course of the year. The bid for additional funding for homecare was accepted acknowledging the financial pressure in this area. The Care Home Quality Programme had been very successful in improving the standard frameworks in care homes. Lynne Lidster said that she would like to thank Marianne Hiley, who had recently retired as the Better Care Fund Manager, for her work with the Better Care Fund.

 

The Chairman commented that Marianne had done a lot of great work, and thanked her for her input and contributions.

215/15

Any Other Business

Minutes:

Hilary Hall said that the Task and Finish homeless strategy group would be meeting in September and an update would be provided at the next meeting.

216/15

Future Meeting Dates

·         October/November 2020 TBC

·         January 2021 TBC

Minutes:

The Chairman said that a meeting in October would probably be best. A meeting date would be arranged and communicated in due course.

 

Concluding the meeting, the Chairman wanted to thank all Board members for their work during the pandemic, where great leadership and decision taking had been shown. He wanted to thank everyone for all they had done and he had received a lot of good feedback from residents.

217/15

Local Outbreak Control Plan and Local Outbreak Engagement Board

To consider the above titled item.