Agenda item

The Board considered a report of the Director of Commissioning, Sheffield City Council and Director of Health Care Reform, NHS Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group, concerning Health and Wellbeing Plans for Sheffield in 2016/17. The report was presented by Richard Parrott, Strategic Commissioning Manager, Sheffield City Council.

The report outlined plans for 2016/17, based around 5 main actions and how the Health and Wellbeing Board and its partners would work together to address them. These were as follows:-

Action 1: Over 2016/17, the Health and Wellbeing Board will continue to communicate and engage with Sheffield people and organisations to ensure that the vision and plans we have are the right ones.

Action 2: The Health and Wellbeing Board will ensure that the JSNA will be fully refreshed and revised in 2016/17.

Action 3: Once the JSNA has been refreshed and revised, in 2016/17 the Health and Wellbeing Board will take the lead, with partners, in revising the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

Action 4: In 2016/17, the Health and Wellbeing Board will continue to ensure that the plans of the Board’s main organisations – Sheffield City Council, NHS Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group, NHS England, Healthwatch Sheffield – are coordinated and coherent.

Action 5: In 2016/17, the Health and Wellbeing Board will take a proactive and assertive approach to ensure that partner organisations make progress with tackling health inequalities, transforming the health and care system, and delivering better outcomes for Sheffield people.

The Board was asked to consider the following issues:

·         Does the Health and Wellbeing Board support the priorities proposed by the commissioning organisations?

·         Are there areas for greater joint working between the organisations on the Health and Wellbeing Board (and others) in 2016/17?

·         Does the Health and Wellbeing Board approve of the five actions outlined in the report?

·         What role is there for Healthwatch Sheffield over the coming year in assisting with the implementation of these plans and ensuring that Sheffield people are appropriately involved, communicated with and engaged?

Members of the Board asked questions and commented upon the matters relevant to this item, as summarised below:-

Whilst tackling health inequalities was identified as a concern for the Board, the Commissioning Plans as appended to the report, did not say how inequalities would be addressed. The Director of Health Annual Report 2015 indicated that there had been little improvement in relation to health inequalities over the past 10 to 15 years. In response to this point, the Board was informed that there was a focus on reducing health inequalities and this was evident for particular groups, including people with learning disabilities. However, this might be made more explicit within the plans from Sheffield City Council and NHS Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

It would be useful to identify a smaller number of priorities, on which effort could be directed and in relation to which progress could be made. Further discussion would take place with the Director of Public Health. It was also questioned as to whether the City Council and CCG plans were truly ambitious and bold rather than operational. The Board were informed that the appendix to the report brought together plans of both organisations and did represent a step forward.

The CCG in Liverpool for example had decided to contribute funding for physical activity, which could be allocated to programmes or initiatives involving physical activity.  There were also areas of public health and inequalities which could be considered by having bold and ambitious plans. Community projects might be extended, where these had achieved good results, and other jointly delivered activity could also be considered.

Reducing health inequalities was a priority for the Board and should be a thread through the various aspects of its work, but it should also be explicit in asking questions about health inequalities in each decision that was made.

In refreshing plans for the CCG, health inequalities were one of the main priorities and the CCG was working jointly with the City Council. The CCG faced significant challenges as regards its financial position and it was important to prioritise the use of resources. Physical activity and smoking cessation were two areas which made a difference to health.

Community assets could be considered alongside other resources and systems. Healthwatch Sheffield was keen to work with the City Council and the CCG on such issues. The recognition of people as potential assets as well as organisations was important and could also be included as part of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA). The People Keeping Well plan included the building of social capital and self-care.

People suffering with mental ill health and those with learning disabilities were known to have a comparatively shorter life expectancy and the City Council and CCG were in a position to try to address these issues together. However, new additional resources were not available. There was a role for social workers and health workers in referring people to services such as smoking cessation services.

It was important to get things right for children in their early years, which would set the conditions for later in life. Young Commissioners had been trained so they could participate in the process of discussing tenders and it was hoped that young people would continue to be engaged and they would have a voice in the commissioning of services. The CCG and City Council plans were evolving and would change where appropriate, with items being added or taken away.

RESOLVED: That:

1.           the Health and Wellbeing Board supports and endorses the plans set out in this document and the actions proposed for the Board; and

2.           Health and Wellbeing Board members and the Board’s organisations commit to working together in an integrated way over the coming year.