Agenda item

The Director of Public Health (DPH) presented a report which enabled the Committee to provide comment on the direction of travel for refreshing the Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy (JLHWBS), in the context of the newly established Place-based Partnership and Integrated Care System. It was noted that:

• The current Barking and Dagenham Health and Wellbeing Strategy (HWBS) would end in March 2023 and would now be known as the Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy (JLHWBS), to take into account the new Integrated Care System (ICS) and the Council’s relationships through the new place-based arrangements.
• Whilst the final version of the document would be approved at the Health and Wellbeing Board, it was important for the Committee to review the document, with a view to ensuring that it felt that the health and wellbeing vision for Barking and Dagenham was represented in the Strategy;
• The refreshed Strategy would set out a renewed vision for improving the health and wellbeing of residents and reducing inequalities at every stage of residents’ lives by 2028;
• The NHS NEL’s Integrated Care Strategy (ICS) would need to be considered when preparing the JLHWBS;
• A Joint Forward Plan would be developed to deliver the ICS, which would need to align to a Local Delivery Plan at Place for the delivery of the JLHWBS; and
• It was also important for the Committee to consider what needed to be brought to it at a local level and what would be better scrutinised at a wider level, such as through the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC).

The Cabinet Member (CM) for Adult Social Care and Health Integration (ASCHI) highlighted the importance of ensuring that all documents tied in together and reflected Barking and Dagenham priorities, as well as those of the other boroughs within outer North East London. She requested that the Committee inform both herself and the DPH of any potential gaps in the Strategy, as well as provide challenge around any programmes of action designed, as what might work in one part of the country, may not work locally.

In response to questions from Members, the DPH stated that:

• The priority of mental health related to the issues that were most prevalent within Barking and Dagenham, which were mainly anxiety and depression, and which were also increasingly prevalent within schools. As part of the Adults’ and Children’s Place Delivery Group, various questions would also need to be addressed, such as improving CAMHS’ waiting lists.
• Whilst there were some issues that would be best addressed by the JHOSC, where issues crossed borough boundaries and affected residents in a similar way in each borough, there were also some issues that would be best addressed by the Barking and Dagenham Health Scrutiny Committee (HSC), particularly where the needs of the borough were particularly unique and needed to be reflected. The DPH advised the Committee that if any Member was concerned about a particular issue that was fundamental to improving the health of Barking and Dagenham residents, that they should request that the issue be reviewed at the Barking and Dagenham HSC.

The CM for ASCHI stated that there was also work to be undertaken around ensuring that the work of the Partnership Board was being fed into the Barking and Dagenham HSC; whilst there was no point in doing the same thing twice, it would be useful for the Partnership Board minutes to be circulated to the Committee, so that Members could have the opportunity to look into any items of interest. The DPH also stated that it was the role of the Committee to look into issues brought by NELFT and NEL ICB, around changes to services. Significant service changes over the next few years would need to be presented to the Committee, and if Members were not happy with a service, they could also request that this be discussed by the Committee. The CM for ASCHI stated that there needed to be better planning, in terms of the Committee knowing what was to be presented at the Partnership Board and at JHOSC, so that it could request to look in advance at specific issues, before their presentation to these Boards.