Meeting Details

The minutes of the meeting held on 6 September 2017 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

ACTION:  To circulate a list of the actions arising from meetings within 12 days of the meeting – Secretary to the Board.

At the invite of the Chairman, nominations for the Vice-Chairman post were received for Dr Caroline Dollery and Dr Kashif Siddiqui.  By general consent, it was agreed that it would be helpful to appoint two Vice-Chairman, and subsequently, Dr Dollery and Dr Siddiqui were both elected as a Vice-Chairman of the Committee.

The Board received report (HWB/12/17) from Peter Fairley, Essex County Council.

Members were reminded that due to timing issues the Chairman had endorsed the Essex Better Care Plan, which had been submitted to NHS England on 11 September 2017.  The Board was now asked to confirm its approval of the Plan.

During discussion, the following was acknowledged, highlighted or questioned:

• Members indicated that more regular and validated information on Delayed Transfers of Care (DTOC) targets was needed;
• Non-elective admissions were lower than planned;
• Further work was required to reduce the increase in delays with social care in both the Acute and non-Acute settings;
• The Disabled Facilities Grant funding would be transferred to the districts for the next two years;
• Members questioned the potential impact of Reablement on the Better Care Fund;
• In relation to the Better Care Fund Assurance Process, the Board noted that the Council had been informally advised that Essex's Plan would be approved.

Resolved:

That the Essex Health and Wellbeing Board:

1.  Confirmed its approval of the Essex Better Care Fund Plan 2017-19.

2.  Noted the outcome of the Assurance Process.

ACTION:  That there should be a report brought to the next meeting of the Board on the Score Card for the BCF for 2016/17 – Nick Presmeg

ACTION:  That a factual report on Reablement performance issues be shared with HWB members – Nick Presmeg

ACTION:  That data on delayed transfers of care would be circulated to members of the Board on a monthly basis – Nick Presmeg

This item was introduced by Dr Mike Gogarty, Essex County Council.

Members considered the issues raised in the published discussion paper and were asked for their views on what could be done to deliver a co-ordinated approach to services, many of which were being provided by the voluntary sector.

During discussion, the following was acknowledged, highlighted or questioned:

• Members agreed that a co-ordinated approach was needed across communities;
• The impact of housing and residents' living conditions, including the development of new garden towns;
• Transport difficulties for those living in village communities;
• The types of isolation across all age groups;
• The need for a focus on sign-posting to services;
• The possibility of extending the role of Community Wardens;
• How to encourage the elderly to get involved with new technology such as skype;
• The various healthcare workers and local community groups who can identify those who (may) need help, and where to refer these according to their needs;
• How to involve the pharmacists, ambulance, police and fire services and share data;
• The success of having patient participation groups, co-ordinated by surgeries;
• The need to empower individuals to do things for themselves;
• How Care Lines could be used for sign posting;
• Social media opportunities.

The Chairman thanked Members for their input into the discussion and asked them to send any further comments to Dr Mike Gogarty.

ACTION:  To consider how to take forward the discussion points raised at the meeting into workable pilot schemes – Dr Mike Gogarty

ACTION:  To send any further comments on this item to Dr Mike Gogarty – All members

The item was introduced by Ian Davidson, Tendring District Council, who formally thanked Marcus Roberts, Senior Policy and Strategy Adviser, Essex County Council, for supporting him on the work.

Members considered the issues raised in the published paper and the challenges of producing a new Joint Strategy for launch in 2018 which would 'add value' and support better outcomes in Essex.

The Board agreed to the Chairman's suggestion to schedule a workshop to consider this item, and supported the view that the current strategy needed to be replaced with a co-produced approach.

ACTION:  To schedule a workshop to discuss this item which will be linked up to a scheduled meeting date – Ian Davidson

The Board received a paper from Dr Mike Gogarty, Essex County Council, which reported on the establishment and first meeting of a new District-County Health and Wellbeing Forum.

The minutes of the District-County Health and Wellbeing Forum held on 19 September 2017 were noted.

The item was introduced by Councillor Ray Gooding and Dave Hill, Essex County Council.

The Board considered the update on progress in relation to the implementation of the Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) reforms since the previous report in October 2016, and on progress in relation to Essex’s preparation for the Care Quality Commission (CQC)/Ofsted local area review inspection of SEND.

Members noted the three key questions which the inspection would focus on and the recent outputs from a cross-agency peer review.  In view of the outcomes from inspections of 31 Local Areas, where 8 had been issued with a Written Statement of Action, the Essex focus now needed to shift from process to outcomes.  The Board was concerned to note that residents were reporting that children's assessments on autism were now taking up to a year.

The CCG representatives and the Chairman of the Mid and South Essex CCG Joint Committee in Common indicated that they would particularly welcome a multi-agency approach to dealing with issues relating to autism and early intervention.

ACTION:  That there should be a report to the new Joint Committee on a proposed joint health and social care approach, which will cover diagnosis (timeliness), assessment and outcomes - Dave Hill

ACTION:  To bring this matter back to the Board with a focus on young adult services (16 to 25 years age group) in connection with mental health and suicide strategies – Dave Hill

The Board received verbal updates from:

• Susannah Howard on the Suffolk and North East Essex Sustainability & Transformation Plan;
• Peter Cutler on the Hertfordshire and West Essex Sustainability & Transformation Plan and
• Wendy Smith on the Mid and South Essex Sustainability & Transformation Plan

The Chairman, on behalf of the Board, congratulated the staff at Colchester University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust on the improvements in the care they were providing which had led to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) announcement that the Trust had been removed from the special measures regime.

The Board noted that the Hertfordshire and West Essex Sustainability & Transformation Plan leader Tom Cahill would be stepping down from this role, and a new successor was being sought to help to drive the Plan forward.

The contributors were thanked for their updates which were welcomed by the Members.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Board would take place at 10.00 am on Wednesday 17 January 2018, in Committee Room 1, County Hall, Chelmsford.

The Board noted the items which were planned for consideration in January and March 2018, and the Chairman encouraged members to contact Dr Mike Gogarty with any further suggestions for future items.

ACTION:  To re-circulate a copy of the forward plan workbook, by email - Secretary to the Board

ACTION:  That any suggestions for future items be sent to Dr Mike Gogarty/Chairman - All members.