Agenda and minutes

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To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Health & Wellbeing Board held on Thursday, 30 September 2021

 RESOLVED – that the minutes of the meeting held 30 September 2021 be confirmed.

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To receive a report on Suicide Prevention from the Public Health Practitioner (DAAT Coordinator), Telford & Wrekin Council.

The Public Health Practitioner (DAAT Coordinator), Telford & Wrekin Council provided the board with an update report on the collaborative work, led by the Public Health team to prevent suicide across the Borough. The Board heard of the success of Suicide Prevention Day and Project 94 event on September 11 2021 which had prompted individuals to seek further support. A speaker from that event was invited to discuss their lived experiences and the support that was available with the board.

Members heard that partnership working was a key part of the suicide prevention strategy and that the support received by the voluntary and statutory sectors had been invaluable to the work they did. 

The Board thanked the speaker for sharing their lived experience and highlighting the challenges that users of the services faced. They recognised that strategies such as Project 94 and other preventative measures were invaluable.

To receive a presentation on Urgent and Emergency Care Improvements and Winter Preparedness from the Director of Planning, NHS Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin CCG.

The Board received a report on Urgent and Emergency Care Improvements and Winter Preparedness from the Director of Planning, NHS Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group (STWCCG). They outlined that health and social care across Telford & Wrekin faced a unique set of challenges. There had been longstanding issues regarding workforce, financial resources and service quality that continued to play a role as they entered winter. This was in addition to managing the ongoing Covid impact.

The Board heard that work had been done to make improvements, but it was emphasised that urgent and emergency care performance was dependent on primary care and other areas of the system. Accident and Emergency (A&E) faced ambulance challenges and further flow and capacity post discharge was needed to meet demand. The Director for Planning provided further context stating that there had been a 9% increase in those using A&E in comparison to pre-pandemic, a 14.5% increase in walk-ins and high numbers of self-presenters who hadn't contact 111 or their GP prior to attending. Of these a high percentage were discharged without care. There was a requirement to focus on people accessing the right services through a set of improvements at pre-Hospital level and through hospital flow and discharge.

At the pre-Hospital stage the board heard that funding had been allocated to increase same day capacity in Primary Care, which resulted in over 10,000 additional GP and allied health professional appointments between October and March. Additionally, they had implemented measures to increase use of 111 bookable appointments, but it was noted that recognitions and use of this was not where it needed to be. Flow through the Hospital to discharge into the community was managed through HALOs but seated discharge facilities have been created so that patients were moved out of the wards in order to free up beds. The Director for Planning assured the Board that SaTH had been reviewing regularly to ascertain and further improvements.

The Director of Planning informed the Board that their approach to winter preparedness had involved working with additional partners to examine existing arrangements and whether they were fit for purpose, with particular focus on the resurgence of flu. Using that information they had focused resources into enhancing voluntary sector support, respiratory work, care homes and community beds. These schemes were to be implemented until March/April 2022 with regular monitoring and adjustments where needed. The Board also heard that they would be running to create dialogue with the public. The Director of Planning thanked the Council for their input on a recent joint letter to the public and for the continued collaborative work.

Members thanked the Director of Planning for their comprehensive presentation. During the debate Members expressed concerns that pressures were already happening and that many features detailed in the reported are expected services. It was recognised that limiting factors such as availability of beds did exist and offered no short term fix, but the Board would like to know the parameters against which they were  ...  view the full minutes text for item HWB31

To receive a report from the Interim Accountable Officer Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin CCG

The Executive Lead, Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Integrated Care System updated the Board on the progress made to ICS development and governance arrangements for Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin. They extended their appreciation to the Telford & Wrekin Council for their continued involvement in the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Integrated Care Partnership (ICP) and noted that the ICB statutory board went live from Friday, 1 April 2022 and will replace the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). It was noted that the ICP operated at a system level and constituted a broad alliance of organisations and representatives including the ICB and Telford & Wrekin Council. The ICB brought together those involved in planning and providing NHS services to take a collaborative approach to the delivery of population health and staff welfare ambitions.

The Board noted the report and the accompanying presentation.

To receive a report on the Autism Strategy Consultation from the Director of Adult Social Care, Telford & Wrekin Council

The Autism Practice Lead, Telford & Wrekin Council presented the consultation outlining the outcomes they hoped to achieve through the scheme. They highlighted that outcomes for those with autism were different, but they have a right to live happy healthy lives. On that basis they had worked in partnership with Autism West Midlands, Telford Autism Hub and the local community to explore further. At the time of the meeting they had received 151 responses to a questionnaire, however it was noted that there were 800 families on their database so there was still a long way to go to reach all families. 

The Board heard that work had been undertaken with both adults and children's services in addition to schools regarding awareness and development. They had also been working towards a diagnostic pathway for children with BeeU.

The Autism Practice Lead informed Members that the engagement for the strategy had been extended to February. However, the All Age Autism Partnership Board was to be launched that week. The would form part of an ongoing strategy.

Members thanked the Autism Practice Lead for the report and noted the importance of consultation when creating a plan that offered real change. The Board recognised the importance of the development of an Autism Strategy to support the community and wider partner services in the borough for autistic people. They also supported the development and embedding of the All Age Autism Partnership Board.

To receive a report on the Vaccination Programme in Telford & Wrekin from the Chief Operating Officer, Shropshire Community Health Care NHS Trust & SRO ICS Covid Vaccination Programme.

The Chief Operating Officer: Shropshire Community Health Care NHS Trust & SRO STW ICS Covid Vaccination Programme provided the Board with an update on the Vaccination Programme in Telford & Wrekin. Members heard that from a standing start in December 2020 they had been tasked with vaccinating 91,000 people by February 2020 but surpassed this to over 100,000 vaccines. It was noted that this was a testament to Health & Social Care, the Local Authority and everyone involved. To the date of the meeting they had provided one million vaccines across Telford & Wrekin. Overall the Chief Operating Officer felt that the system had been doing well, but there was still more to do. They highlighted that 90% of those in ICU were unvaccinated. This proved to be one of the biggest challenges.

Figures surrounding first and second doses across the Borough were good and we were above the national average for booster delivery. At the time of the meeting Telford & Wrekin were second for those who were immune suppressed and in the top 5 for delivery in school aged children. The Board heard that the booster interval had changed for six months to three months which increased demand on service. As a result the Primary Care Network and Local Authority had come together to plan this and seven practices had agreed to support the next wave.

Evidence surrounding uptake in Telford and Wrekin had highlighted that areas including Woodside, Brookside and Stirchley had a lower uptake to the national average. Ongoing work was being completed with the Council to increase uptake in those areas.

The Chief Operating Officer reported that the most recent data suggested that the Vaccine was effective against Omicron, but three doses were recommended. They requested support from the Board in utilising the additional funding for pre-engagement with the Local Authority in ensuring the message reaches constituents.

Members thanked the Chief Operating Officer for their work on the vaccination programme, noting that without the vaccination effort the Covid impact could have been far worse. There was still more to be done around the inequalities agenda and engagement was key.

To receive a verbal update on the Health Watch Mental Health Crisis Survey and Urgent Medical Care Survey from Barry Parnaby, Healthwatch Telford & Wrekin.

The Board heard that due to a lack of responses received the response times for the surveys had been extended. It was hoped that they would provide important feedback around mental health and urgent care.

RESOLVED: That the item be deferred to the next meeting in March 2022.

To receive the Safeguarding Partnership Annual Report from the Independent Chair of the Telford & Wrekin Safeguarding Partnership.

The Independent Chair of the Telford & Wrekin Local Safeguarding Partnership presented their Annual Report for 2020-2021 and provided an overview of the work that had taken place in the last 12 months. This was to be the last year that the report would be produced in this format as a clear new structure has been agreed. It was recognised that there needed to be the capacity within the partnership to focus on specific children and adult safeguarding matters. It was therefore agreed that while the joint arrangements would remain at the Executive level that beneath this the Safeguarding Children Board and Safeguarding Adult Board would re-established during 2021/22.

The Board heard that the Adult Criminal Exploitation Sub-Group had been very valuable and had been innovative in treating demand from regular users of the service. It was noted that they were increasingly aware that the threshold excluded those who needed help and this had allowed them to still assist. The Independent Chair cited how the Children's services going from Requires Improvement to Outstanding made their work easier, and that they were confident that partnership and support would continue.

Members noted the report and recognised the important work covered within and its contribution to the wider safeguarding roles within Telford & Wrekin.

To receive an update on the Year of Wellbeing from the Service Delivery Manager Health Improvement & Libraries.

The Service Delivery Manager Health Improvement & Libraries outlined the progress to date of the Year of Wellbeing Campaign launched in June 2020. The campaign wanted to see 5000 residents make a pledge to make positive improvements to their health. Of these 500 were to be from priority groups most affected by Covid 19. To date they had received 1882 pledges, 49% of which were from priority groups.

Members heard that since the launch of the campaign they had carried out a number of events and awareness days. In addition to utilising social media, email and the website to provide practical advice to people. The online posts had been seen over 200,000 times and the 22,000 emails sent so far had continued to see a 50% average open rate, which was one of the highest in comparison to other Council email campaigns. Having employed a Year of Wellbeing Coordinator they were expecting to see engagement numbers increase. There was also further plans to reach more vulnerable groups.

The Board noted the progress made throughout the campaign and were pleased to see a focus on preventative measures.