Agenda and minutes

Prior to the commencement of the meeting Councillor Johnson congratulated Councillor Hovvels on the award of her MBE in the Honours List.  The honour was well-deserved for her work in the community.  Councillor Hovvels informed the Board that she had been awarded the MBE for her work with the travelling community and work with the police.

Moved by Councillor Johnson, Seconded by Councillor Allen and

Resolved:

That Councillor L Hovvels of be elected Chairman of the Board for the ensuing year.

Councillor L Hovvels in the Chair

Moved by Nicola Bailey, Seconded by Councillor Johnson and

Resolved:

That of Dr S Findlay be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Board for the ensuing year.

Apologies for absence were received from M Barkley, B Clark, Dr S Findlay, S Jacques and R Shimmin.

P Appleton as substitute for R Shimmin and E Lovell as substitute for S Jacques.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Minutes of the special meeting held on 14 May 2015 were confirmed by the Board as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Director of Public Health referred to Minute No. 9 on page 4 and informed the Board that there was still no clarity from Public Health England on either the methodology of the Health Premium Initiative Scheme 2014-19 or how this would be taken forward.

The Director of Public Health referred to a previous Board discussion around the fluoridation of water within the County, following which she and the Director of Public Health of Darlington had written to the Tees Valley Chief Executive Group, who provided feedback that they were unable to contribute financially towards this due to austerity measures and conflicting priorities.

The Board agreed that this should be kept on the agenda.  In the meantime, the Director of Public Health County Durham would investigate whether Durham could progress with fluoridation plans without doing this in financial collaboration with the Tees Authorities and would ascertain whether the Tees Authorities would be agreeable for Durham to go ahead without their financial input.  The Director of Public Health County Durham undertook to circulate the letter from the Tees Valley Chief Executive Group to Board Members.

The Board considered a report of the Overview and Scrutiny Officer (CYP), Assistant Chief Executive’s office that presented the key messages and recommendations of the Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee working group review report on Self Harm by Young People (for copy see file of Minutes).

Councillor Johnson emphasised the importance of the review report and the key messages and recommendations contained within it.  He highlighted that schools within the County played a key part in supporting children and young people who had mental health and emotional wellbeing issues.

The Director of Public Health County Durham informed the Board that the majority of recommendations would be picked up by the Task and Finish Group which was formulating the Mental Health, Emotional Wellbeing and Resilience Plan.  Catherine Richardson, Public Health Portfolio Lead would attend the Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee as part of the consultation process for the Plan.

The Head of Planning and Service Strategy, Children and Adults Services informed the Board of the importance of ensuring that young people were listened to so they could be better supported in relation to self-harm.  It was important to look at developing further training to young people in schools on how to support each other.

Councillor Hovvels thanked the Overview and Scrutiny Officer and Councillor Nicholls for their report.

Resolved:

(i)      That the Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee review report on self-harm by young people be received.

(ii)     That the key messages and recommendations be noted.

The Board considered a report of the Chief Operating Officer, North Durham and Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield Clinical Commissioning Groups which provided an update on the implementation of County Durham Child and Adolescent Mental Services (CAMHS) Interim Joint Strategy and development of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health, Emotional Wellbeing and Resilience Plan, which would take into consideration the recent policy document on promoting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing (Future in Mind, 2015) (for copy see file of Minutes).

The Chair of Healthwatch County Durham referred to the proposed Agenda Day with young carers to gather feedback on health commissioned services and requested that Healthwatch be involved in this work.  The Chief Operating Officer, North Durham and Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield Clinical Commissioning Groups replied that Healthwatch would be invited to attend the event.

Resolved:

That:

(i)      the content of the report be noted.

(ii)     the work taking place to develop the Children and Young People Mental Health, Emotional Wellbeing and Resilience Plan would include recommendations from “Future in Mind” be noted.

(iii)   the Board receive a draft of the Children and Young People Mental Health, Emotional Wellbeing and Resilience Plan at its meeting in September 2015, as part of the formal consultation process.

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Manager – Policy, Planning  and Partnerships, Children and Adults Services, Durham County Council that presented the Health and Wellbeing Board Annual Report 2014/15 for agreement (for copy of report see file of Minutes).

Resolved:

That:

(i)      the Health and Wellbeing Board Annual Report 2014/15 which was attached at Appendix 2 be agreed.

(ii)     the timeline and next steps outlined in the report be noted.

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Manager – Policy, Planning  and Partnerships, Children and Adults Services, Durham County Council that presented the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy Delivery Plan 2015-2018 for agreement (for copy see file of Minutes).

The Head of Planning and Service Strategy, Children and Adults Services reminded the Board that this was the Board’s agreed Delivery Plan and as such, any variations to the Plan needed to be agreed by the Board.

The Board discussed the work being undertaken in relation to Securing Quality in Health Services, which would be referenced in the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy, with specific actions being included in the Delivery Plan for 2016/19.

Resolved:

That the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy Delivery Plan 2015-18 be agreed.

The Board considered a report of the Director of Public Health (DPH) County Durham, Children and Adults Services, Durham County Council that provided an overview of health protection assurance arrangements in County Durham and updates on relevant activity from April 2013 to March 2014 (for copy see file of Minutes).

Resolved:

(i)      That the report be noted.

(ii)     It be noted that performance was generally higher than the NE and England averages for most immunisation and screening programmes.

(iii)   It be noted that the DPH was satisfied that effective assurance processes were in place and that issues or concerns could be escalated appropriately.

(iv)   That the DPH discharged health protection responsibilities on behalf of the Secretary of State for Health and the local authority be noted.

The Board considered a report of the Director of Public Health County Durham, Durham County Council that provided an update on the recent “CLeaR thinking: Excellence in local tobacco control” peer assessment which provided a position statement on the County Durham Tobacco Alliance’s plans and ambitions and recommended further action where required.  The review was led jointly by Public Health England, Action on Smoking and Health and Cancer Research UK (for copy see file of Minutes).

The Board noted that County Durham has a long term ambition to reduce smoking prevalence to 5% by 2030, which was driven by a vision statement to ‘Make Smoking History’, supported by a medium term five year tobacco control action plan 2013 – 2017.  The Board agreed that it would consider a joint workshop session with the Tobacco Alliance and Fresh if sufficient progress was not being made to achieve this ambition.

The Chief Executive, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust informed the Board that although the Trust currently operated smoke free hospitals, it did not operate smoke free sites.  However from 1 August the Trust would be introducing smoke free sites which would mean that smoking would not be allowed anywhere on Trust premises.  The Associate Director of Marketing and Communications, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust informed the Board of difficulties experienced by Trusts when trying to enforce smoke free areas around hospitals.  The Director of Corporate Affairs/Trust Secretary, City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust added that currently there was no national legislation to support Trusts when trying to enforce such areas.

It was agreed that the Director of Public Health County Durham link with Fresh about programming joint communications from the Health and Wellbeing board about organisations on the Board and their office sites going smoke free.

Resolved:

That:

(i)      the detailed feedback from the peer review in Appendix 2 be noted.

(ii)     the 12 high level recommendations for all partners attached as appendix 3 be noted.

(iii)   the leadership role of the Health and Wellbeing Board in challenging and supporting partners to progress relevant actions be noted.

(iv)   the national award received by the County Durham Tobacco Control Alliance be noted.

The Board considered a report of the Chief Clinical Officer, Durham Dales Easington and Sedgefield Clinical Commissioning Group that provided an update on system resilience funding and winter planning following a report produced and presented to the Health and Wellbeing Board in January 2015.  The role of the Systems Resilience Group is to support and drive the delivery of operational resilience and capacity to ensure quality, performance and financial balance (for copy see file of Minutes).

The Head of Planning and Strategy Service enquired about the ‘perfect week’ which had taken place in City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust and the Director of Corporate Affairs/Trust Secretary, City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust agreed to circulate a presentation to Board Members.

The Chair of Healthwatch County Durham referred to the recent publication by Healthwatch England on unsafe discharge and the Associate Director of Marketing and Communications, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust agreed to discuss discharge arrangements within the Trust with the Chair of Healthwatch.

Councillor Allen informed the Board that she was Chair of the Police and Crime Panel and that the Panel had received the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy as part of the consultation. She outlined discussions had taken place about the impact of alcohol on crime and disorder and on the health service and asked whether figures on alcohol related admission were available.  The Director of Public Health County Durham replied that she would request the Alcohol Harm Reduction Co-ordinator to provide Councillor Allen with this information.

The Chief Operating Officer, North Durham CCG informed the Board that she would provide feedback to the System Resilience Group to consider whether Trusts could consider a charge for people who used ambulances for alcohol related issues who  accessed Accident and Emergency.

Resolved:

That the report be noted.

The Board considered a report of the Head of Commissioning, Children and Adults Services, Durham County Council that gave an update on the performance against the targets set within the Better Care Fund (BCF) requirements and the financial position relating to the plan.  The report included the performance report submitted to the Better Care Fund Support Team on 29 of May 2015 (for copy see file of Minutes).

Resolved:

That the report be noted.

The Board considered a joint report of the Corporate Director, Children and Adult Services, Durham County Council, the Chief Clinical Officer, Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield Clinical Commissioning Group and the Chief Operating Officer, North Durham & Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield Clinical Commissioning Group that provided an end of year update on the delivery of key performance indicators (KPIs) associated with the 2014-15 section 256 agreement between Durham County Council and NHS England (for copy see file of Minutes).

Resolved:

That the report be noted.

The Board considered a report of the Head of Planning and Service Strategy, Children and Adults Services, Durham County Council that described the progress being made against the priorities and outcomes set within the County Durham Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy (JHWS) 2014-17 (for copy see file of Minutes).

Resolved:

That:

(i)    the performance highlights and areas for improvements identified throughout the report be noted.

(ii)   the actions taking place to improve performance and agree any additional actions, where relevant, be noted.

Resolved:

That under Section 100 A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 & 2 of Schedule 12A to the said Act.

The Board considered a report of the Director of Public Health County Durham, Children and Adults Services, Durham County Council which provided a summary of Pharmacy Relocation Applications received from NHS England in accordance with the NHS (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013 since the last formal meeting of the Board in May 2015 (for copy see file of Minutes).

Resolved:

That the Board note the Pharmacy Relocation Applications received.