Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were submitted from Carol Cammiss, Dr Debbie Milligan and Dr Cathy Winfield.

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 10 October 2019.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 10 October 2019 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any declarations of interest

There were no declarations of interest.

To answer any public questions

A period of 30 minutes will be allowed for members of the public to ask questions submitted under notice.

The Council welcomes questions from members of the public about the work of this Board.

Subject to meeting certain timescales, questions can relate to general issues concerned with the work of the Board or an item which is on the Agenda for this meeting.  For full details of the procedure for submitting questions please contact the Democratic Services Section on the numbers given below or go to www.wokingham.gov.uk/publicquestions

There were no public questions.

To answer any member questions

There were no Member questions.

To consider the Director of Public Health Annual Report. (25 mins)

Tessa Lindfield, Director Public Health presented Berkshire a Good Place to Work – the 2019 Director of Public Health report.

During the discussion of this item, the following points were made:

·         The Board were reminded that the Director of Public Health had a duty to produce an annual report.  A Berkshire wide report with a focus on workplace health and wellbeing had been produced.

·         The Board was informed of employment rates, including access to ‘good’ work, 2018/19, across Berkshire.  Employment rates were above the England average.

·         The majority of employees in the Wokingham Borough were employed by big businesses.  Councillor Clark commented that she felt that information on the percentage of workers who were in professional employment should be included earlier in the report.

·         Katie Summers asked how Berkshire compared nationally, and was informed that a higher percentage of people worked for big businesses in Berkshire. 

·         Local authorities were the second highest employer within the county. 

·         Tessa Lindfield stated that access to ‘good’ work was easier for some age groups than others.  Employment rates for younger people were poorer, for example.

·         Councillor Hare asked about the definition of poor health.  Tessa Lindfield stated that it was a formal definition from Public Health England which was comparable across the country. 

·         On average, women lived in poor health for longer and had a longer life expectancy.

·         Crowthorne had the highest life expectancy rate in the country.

·         With regards to the health of the working age population, it was noted that the workforce was becoming older and were more likely to have long term conditions that required management.

·         Sickness absence rates were on the increase and presenteeism had increased by up to three times since 2010.  Only 30% of managers had been identified as taking initiatives to identify the underlying causes of this.

·         Some of the main reasons for sickness absence included mental health issues and musculoskeletal conditions.

·         Tessa Lindfield emphasised that it was important that working environments supported employees’ health and wellbeing.  Some groups such as shift workers needed additional support.

·         Board members were informed of anchor institutions.  Local authorities, hospitals and universities were examples of anchor institutions.

·         Katie Summers indicated that the BOB STP ICS had had a good conversation with large employers about supporting the workforce.  She felt that improvements could be made in the NHS in particular.

·         The Board asked how the annual report would be taken forward, shared and adopted by other organisations.  Tessa Lindfield stated that the Royal Berkshire Hospital Foundation Trust would be looking at issues such as the food offer and staff mental resilience, in master planning of sites.  Graham Ebers commented that the Council’s Corporate Works Council considered sickness absence rates. 

·         Graham Ebers went on to emphasise that it was important to identify those businesses that were less effective in supporting their employees’ health and wellbeing.  Sarah Hollamby suggested that the Local Enterprise Partnership be contacted.

·         In response to a question from Nick Campbell-White, Tessa Lindfield asked Board members to go back to their  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.

To receive an update on the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (20 minutes)

Mustafa Kamara, Public Health, presented the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) update December 2019.

During the discussion of this item, the following points were made:

·         The JSNA provided a summary of the health needs of the local population.

·         Mustafa Kamara indicated that in general Wokingham Borough was affluent and healthy, although there was still some health inequalities.  The Borough had one of the highest life expectancy rates in the country.  Compared with the national picture, there were fewer young adults in their 20s and 30s living in Wokingham than there were older adults in their 40s and 50s although this may change following the housing development work.

·         Board members were informed of some of the indicators where the Borough performed less well;

Ø  Respiratory tract infection admissions aged 1 year and Respiratory tract infection admission aged 2, 3 and 4 years;

Ø  MMR – second dose;

Ø  Admissions as a result of self-harm (15-19 year olds);

Ø  Adult drinkers of alcohol.

·         Councillor Hare questioned why the rate of respiratory tract infection admissions in young children was worse than regional and national averages.  Katie Summers commented that asthma diagnoses were increasing.  In addition, Tessa Lindfield stated that the population were generally quite health aware and as such were more likely to present if they had a health issue.

·         The Board were concerned to note the increasing rate of self-harm related hospital admissions (among 15-19 year olds) in Wokingham; which was significantly worse than the national average.

·         In response to a question from Councillor Margetts, Graham Ebers commented that the JSNA informed the Wellbeing Strategy.  The Board needed to be satisfied that the issues identified in the JSNA were reflected in the Strategy.

·         Councillor Hare suggested that self-harm in young people and suicide levels needed to be considered further.  Mustafa Kamara indicated that the Suicide Prevention Group were looking at self-harm and would be undertaking a needs assessment to better understand the causes and how levels could be reduced.

·         Nick Campbell-White emphasised that young people’s mental health remained a concern.  Healthwatch Wokingham Borough continued to receive reports of young people having to wait some time to access CAMHS.  He felt that more prevention work was required.

·         Katie Summers also indicated that GPs were also seeing an increase in the number of parents and young people seeking support with mental health issues for young people.

·         Sal Thirlway informed the Board of a pilot programme that the Council would be undertaking with 12 schools, around mental health.   He would report back to the Board at a future meeting regarding the outcome of the pilot.  Katie Summers expressed disappointment that the schools participating in the pilot were all secondary schools.

·         Nick Campbell-White asked what was currently being done to support young people and their emotional wellbeing.  Katie Summers stated that work was being undertaken across Berkshire West, and it was recognised that there was a gap.  There would be mental health teams as part of the wider Primary Care Networks from the next year.  Workforce  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

To consider a report regarding Designing our Neighbourhood. (15 mins)

The Board received a report regarding Designing our Neighbourhoods.

During the discussion of this item, the following points were made:

·         The Design our Neighbourhoods event would be held on 22 January.  It would be hosted and led by the Council and the CCG.

·         It was hoped that the event would lead to further engagement events with the community.

·         Katie Summers explained the format that would be followed at the event.

·         Philip Cook agreed to encourage greater attendance from the voluntary sector.  Graham Ebers commented that greater attendance from the Town and Parish Councils would be beneficial.

·         Nick Campbell-White questioned whether the word ‘neighbourhood’ should be used and asked that attendees be asked what they thought a neighbourhood was and whether a Primary Care Network reflected this.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

To consider a report regarding Strategy into Action (15 mins)

The Board considered the Strategy into Action report.

During the discussion of this item, the following points were made:

·         Graham Ebers outlined the spotlight action taken by the Sports and Leisure team in relation to the key priority of social isolation.

·         Board members were informed of the pilot scheme Project Joy.

·         The Board noted some of the key indicators and were reminded that the action plan was a working document.  A target for 2021 for each indicator had been identified.  Using trend analysis a more meaningful projection could then be created.

·         Councillor Margetts asked about the indicators relating to the offering and take up of NHS Health Checks, which were both showing as red.  Carol-Anne Bidwell explained that this was a mandated service.  In addition to being offered by GPs this service had also been offered by Places for Leisure since June.  A quality assurance on the delivery of health checks would be built up.

·         Katie Summers was of the view that hospital admissions due to falls should be included.  She also wanted to see information on the number of assisted bin collections.

·         Graham Ebers emphasised that it was vital that the partnerships such as the Children and Young People’s Partnership, buy into the Strategy into Action process.

RESOLVED:  That

1)         the revised set of approximately 20 rationalised basket of indicators be agreed;

2)         it be agreed to identify any additional indicators that may be available in respective organisations and utilised to assist with monitoring of performance.

3)         the spotlight action case study be noted.

To receive updates on the work of the following Board members:

·         Healthwatch Wokingham Borough;

·         Voluntary Sector;

·         Community Safety Partnership.

(20 mins)

The Board received an update on the work of the following Board members:

Healthwatch Wokingham Borough:

Nick Campbell-White indicated that Healthwatch Wokingham Borough would be entering a pilot arrangement under which they would be sharing a chief officer with Healthwatch Hampshire and Healthwatch Slough.

At the last Wokingham Leadership Partnership Board, Healthwatch had identified the top three issues which it felt needed attention:

Ø  Children’s Mental Health;

Ø  CMHT Crisis Support; and

Ø  Learning Disability Health

Matt Pope reminded Board members of the Learning Disability Strategy.

Community Safety Partnership:

Board members noted the report contained within the agenda.

It was felt that the update from Board members should no longer be a standing item on the agenda, as this was not the most appropriate way of getting the organisations’ message across.

RESOLVED:  That

1)         the updates on the work of the Board members be noted;

2)         updates from Board members no longer be a standing item on the agenda.

To consider the Board’s work programme for the remainder of the municipal year.

The Board received the forward programme for the remainder of the municipal year.

RESOLVED:  That the forward programme be noted.