Agenda and minutes

Councillor J Robinson in the Chair

Councillors –

Councillors W Newall, J Taylor and L Tostevan (Darlington Borough Council)

Councillor J Blakey (Durham County Council)

Councillors R Cook and R Martin-Wells (Hartlepool Borough Council)

Councillors B Brady and E Dryden (Middlesbrough Council)

Councillors J Blackie, J Clark and C Dickinson (North Yorkshire County Council)

Councillors N Cooney, R Goddard and M Ovens (Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council)

Councillors S Bailey and L Hall (Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council)

Officers –

Stephen Gwillym (Durham County Council), Joan Stevens (Hartlepool Borough Council), Bryon Hunter (North Yorkshire County Council), Alison Pearson (Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council) and Peter Mennear (Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council)

Better Health Programme –

Nicola Bailey, Derek Cruikshanks, Edmund Lovell, Dr Boleslaw Posmyk and  Dr Neil O’Brien

Also in attendance –

Councillor L Hovvels – Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Adult and Health Services and Chairman of Health and Wellbeing Board (Durham County Council)

Peter Appleton – Head of Planning and Service Strategy, Children and Adult Services (Durham County Council)

Representatives from North East Empowerment and Diversity Group.

Apologies for absence were received from:-

Councillors –

Councillor Scott – Darlington Borough Council

Councillor Stelling – Durham County Council

Councillor Akers-Belcher – Hartlepool Borough Council

Councillor Walker – Middlesbrough Council

Councillor Mitchell – Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council

Officers –

Elise Pout – Middlesbrough Council

Councillor L Tostevan for Councillor H Scott (Darlington Borough Council)

There were no declarations of interest declared.

To receive and approve the minutes of the Better Health Programme Joint Health Scrutiny Committee held on 7 July 2016.

The minutes of the meeting held on 7 July 2016 were confirmed by the Committee as a correct record and signed by the Chairman (for copy see file of Minutes).

The Chairman advised that the ten decisions outlined in Item 7 would be re-visited following the BHP presentation.

As a matter of clarity, it was agreed that Councillors would be identified by name within the minutes.

Presentation – Representatives of the Better Health Programme will give a presentation to the Joint Committee setting out the proposals for Phase 3 Engagement considered at the Better Health Programme Stakeholder Forum event on 29 June 2016 and highlighting the long list of possible scenarios and evaluation criteria to be used for decision making.

The Committee considered a report and presentation of the Communications and Engagement Lead, Better Health Programme (BHP) that shared information from a stakeholder forum event held on 29 June 2016 and highlighted the long list of possible scenarios and evaluation criteria to be used for decision making (for copy see file of Minutes).

The Better Health Team gave a detailed presentation that included information on the following:-

·         Better Health Programme Governance Structure

·         Executive Membership

·         Board Membership

·         Engagement with Stakeholders

·         Deciding what to consult on

·         Workshop discussions – format

·         Possible Solutions

·         Proposed weighting criteria for engagement

·         Key questions – discussion

·         Key Services

·         Combination of Services and Long list of Solutions

·         NHS England Guidance

·         Next Steps & Timeline

The Chairman referred to the focus on NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STP) and the fact that nothing has been provided to the Joint OSC in this respect.  Councillor Clark asked about funding through the STP and that further clarification was required.  Councillor Martin-Wells asked who the STP were answerable to.

Dr O’Brien explained that the BHP was a focused piece of work and that the STP was about a combined planning approach to look at the financial gaps within the NHS over the next 5 years.  He indicated that the BHP was a programme that sits under the STP and stressed that there were close links between the two projects.  Dr Brien added that Mental Health and Hambleton and Richmondshire were not part of the BHP but did form part of the STP.  He also pointed out that the work of the BHP commenced before the work of the STP.

Councillor Martin-Wells re-iterated his point about who the STP was responsible to and was advised that there are a number of professional people and bodies who judge the plan including representatives from NHS England, NHS Improvement, the Local Government Association and the Care Quality Commission.  Dr O’Brien also advised that financial bodies and the department of health also feed into the plan.  He went on explain that funding through the STP would be directed to NHS Foundation Trusts.

Moving on to the membership of the board, the Chairman was advised that there were no elected members involved. The Committee was, however, assured that there is Local Authority involvement in the Programme Board in terms of a nominated Chief Executive and Director of Social Care.

Referring to the stakeholder events, and in particular the ones held in Hartlepool, Councillor Cook asked how it had been decided who to invite, how the events were advertised and how people became involved in the process.  Mr Lovell explained that the meeting in Hartlepool had been well attended and that those who had attended were from the local community including the Patient Reference Group.  He informed Members that adverts had been placed in local newspapers, leaflets and been placed in GP practices and libraries and social media had been used to promote the events.  He added that there had been varied attendances but that they had strengthened as the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

-       Thursday 8 September 2016 at 2.00 p.m. – Mandela Room, Middlesbrough Town Hall

The next meeting would be held on Thursday 8 September 2016 at 2.00 p.m. in the Mandela Room, Middlesbrough Town Hall.