To receive the above report.

Jane Hogg set out the strategy. She informed the Board that it was a partnership of local authorities and NHS organisations with the aim of improving health and wellbeing for individuals. The area the strategy covered included East Berkshire, North East Hampshire, Farnham and Surrey Heath, which included over 800,000 people. Implementing the new strategy is the next phase of the project.

Tessa Lindfield explained that it was also important to understand the demographics of the population and what trends showed. By looking at the data, it was possible to discover key health issues in the area. It would also allow for comparison with the national average to see how the strategy was performing compared to the rest of the country.

Jane Hogg said that there were a few main insights that had been discovered. In particular, potential years of life had been lost due to individuals not being treated correctly, while deprivation would prevent some from being able to access services and treatment in the first place. Mental Health was also showing a negative trend.

To help develop the insights, data had been used from Healthwatch’s survey, which asked over 1500 local residents. From this, it was clear that more people were looking to other methods and services before going to A&E. This included calling the NHS 111 number, visiting the NHS website and visiting a GP. However, communication could still be improved.

Tessa Lindfield informed the meeting about the ‘Inspiration Station’, which allowed those from within the system to engage with the insights. These insights did not surprise those that took part, but did show that there was an ambition and desire to deal with the issues which had been discovered.

Jane Hogg explained the six strategic ambitions on which the system will focus on. These are:

·         Starting Well

·         Focus on Wellbeing

·         Community Deals

·         Our People

·         Leadership and Cultures

·         Outstanding use of Resources

In terms of funding, a total of £1.4 billion a year was currently spent, which worked out at approximately £1,744 per person. However, children and young people made up a very small proportion of this funding, and therefore there would need to be a shift in the percentage of spend on each area. The goal for the strategy was by 2025 there would be an increase in healthy life expectancy at birth by two years, and a decrease in the gap in life expectancy by three years.

The Chairman asked what the plan for funding the strategy was and what could be done to prevent the negative trend on mental health. Jane Hogg explained that there had been an increase in funding nationally and that there had been a successful initiative involving mental health. It was also worth noting that the ‘Primary Care’ area of funding involved a number of different factors.

Kevin McDaniel, Director of Children’s Services, commented on the targets that had been set to be achieved by 2025, and that more could be done for mental health at an early age.

The Chairman asked about the deprivation findings and whether there was a framework or plan designed to address this. He was told by Jane Hogg that they would be working collectively to identify specific examples, for example through the insights they had discovered which communities were not engaging with the cancer screening services that were offered.

Tessa Lindfield said that they had found that cohorts were not bounded by place and they were coming up with new strategies to help balance inequalities.