Decision details

The development of the JSNA for the borough is an iterative process. The JSNA is updated/refreshed annually by the Public Health Team. A summary of the amendments and any new recommendations will be presented to the Board.

The Board will note this summary and agree recommendations that have arisen during the year, keeping the JSNA up-to-date and relevant for commissioners.

Matthew Cole (Director, Public Health) introduced the report to the Board and drew attention to the demographics and emerging trends in population growth. It was noted that Barking and Dagenham has challenges across the life course and must plan for its increasing numbers of young people as well as having a sizeable cohort of over 90s with numbers of middle aged people forecast to peak in 2020.

Conor Burke (Accountable Officer, CCG) advised the Board that the CCG has adjusted its commissioning cycle to get better alignment with the Council to improve partnership working. He also asked for clarity over how the Public Health Grant is allocated and how the Board and partner organisations can influence or bid for funding.

Anne Bristow (Corporate Director, Adult and Community Services) explained that the public health grant has been allocated. There is scope to commission further programmes using the grant after the Health and Wellbeing Strategy has been renewed. Partners should share ideas at the earliest opportunity so that business cases can be considered before the next bidding round begins. The Board was reminded to think about core service budgets and how these are allocated at a time when organisations are looking for efficiencies rather than just focussing on the public health grant which by comparison is very small. 

Matthew Cole reported that the Public Health Programmes Board has developed a framework for deciding commissioning intentions and the group will use this framework to make recommendations to the Board.

Dr Mike Gill (Medical Director, BHRUT) wished to see adolescence feature more prominently in the JSNA as young adults are a key client group that have different needs. Failure to meet these needs can have major ramifications where long term conditions are not managed properly into adulthood.

The Chair proposed that the JSNA recommendations for substance mis-use run across the life course recognising health issues and implications for all residents struggling with drug and alcohol dependencies. 

Helen Jenner (Corporate Director, Children’s Services) called for investment in the production of equalities impact assessments which could be improved by developing and bringing forth third sector and community knowledge/experience. 

The Board noted the recommendations of the JSNA and accepted them as providing a sound evidence base on which future commissioning and strategic decisions can be made.

The Chair reminded the Board of the importance of the JSNA to local decision-making and asked that information presented to the Board and discussions in meetings clearly refer back to the JSNA and its recommendations. Successes in end of life care and sickle cell disease were attributed to the partnership giving prominence to these issues in the JSNA and used as examples to illustrate the power of the JSNA to drive change.