Agenda and minutes

In the absence of the Chair, Cllr Hannigan was invited to take the chair for the meeting. He welcomed everyone to the meeting, inviting them to introduce themselves.

Cllr C Sherwood substituted for Cllr Waltham MBE, and Ruth Twiggins substituted for Professor Derek Ward.

There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests and personal or personal and prejudicial interests.

Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board, held on 22 March 2022, be approved as a correct record.

The Director: Governance and Communities confirmed that the Forward Plan was up to date, and that all forthcoming actions were timetabled.

There were no questions from members of the public.

The Director of Public Health gave a presentation on current Covid trends and epidemiology.  This included details on outbreak management and control, and the effective monitoring of data.

Resolved – That the update be noted.

The Director of Public Health submitted a report seeking board members’ approval to adopt the Greater Lincolnshire health protection service delivery plan, adopt the Greater Lincolnshire living safely with covid plan, and noting progress on the Greater Lincolnshire’s pilot and planned developments for health protection.

The Director explained that the Government’s objective in the next phase of the Covid response was to enable the country to manage Covid like other respiratory illnesses, whilst minimising mortality, morbidity, and retaining the ability to respond appropriately to future situations. As the national test and trace programme has now been stood down, local partners needed to have plans in place to manage local Covid outbreaks.  Local Authorities would continue to support outbreak management through the Public Health Grant allocation, and the above plans and steps were central to this.

The Board discussed the report in some depth, highlighting encouraging examples of local learning and amending the local response to outbreaks.

Resolved -  (a)  That the Greater Lincolnshire Health Protection Service Delivery Plan be approved, (b) that the Greater Lincolnshire Living Safely with Covid Plan be approved,(c) that the Board note the progress of the Greater Lincolnshire’s pilot and planned developments for health protection; and (d) that a future report on the final form and function of a single Health Protection Service for Greater Lincolnshire be submitted to the Board for consideration following the ongoing pilot.

The North Lincolnshire NHS Place Director (Designate) submitted a report which provided an update on the establishment of the Integrated Care System (ICS) and the development of the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Integrated Care Partnership, and the architecture of the ICS, including Places and Provider Collaboratives. An update was also included on the development the North Lincolnshire Place Partnership and the good progress that had been made in continuing to develop integrated arrangements at Place. 

Some background was provided around the aims and roles of ICSs, and it was confirmed that all senior Executive appointments had now been made to the ICB, as well as two independent non-executive directors. Sector representative leads had also been identified for local government, primary care and NHS Trusts and Foundation Trusts.   

The Place Director (Designate) also confirmed that a smooth transition to new arrangements was expected, and highlighted that The Place Partnership was continuing to develop its work programme and intended to continue collaborating with the associated partnership groups to align plans to the Strategic Intent and ambition for the Place.

Board members discussed the report, exploring how the ICS could work with other groups and boards at a local level, and how there needed to continue to be a central role for the ‘Place’ of North Lincolnshire.  The need for local accountability and transparency was highlighted by Board members, and it was anticipated that the Health and Wellbeing Board would continue to play a key role in achieving this aim.  Members also discussed resource allocation, the move to a more preventative and health promotion approach, and the local Strategic Intent document.

Resolved – That the Health and Wellbeing Board note the update provided on the development of the ICS and the development of Place Partnership Arrangements. 

The Director of Children and Families submitted a report to update the Health and Wellbeing Board on the publication of the Independent Review of Children’s Social care Final Report and the key points, recommendations, and implications for action.

The Director explained that the Independent Review was a great opportunity to consider children’s social care across the spectrum of need. The review commenced in March 2021 before publishing the final report in May 2022. A number of the key elements and recommendations pertaining to health and wellbeing were described by the Director. A formal government response was expected in the next 6 months.

The Board discussed a number of related issues, such as further developing a ‘family help’ system – partners and agencies being key to this. Embedding a children and families approach into the ICS arrangements was likely to be a priority issue in the coming months.

Resolved – (a) That the Health and Wellbeing Board note the publication of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care Final Report, and acknowledge the key points, recommendations and implications for action; and (b) that the Health and Wellbeing Board take account of the Independent Review Final Report and contribute to partnership action to drive forward system transformation and integration

The Director of Public Health submitted a report to update the Health and Wellbeing Board on progress to publish the pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) for 2022.  The Director explained that the Board had a statutory duty to publish an updated PNA by 1 October 2022.

The Director stated that a draft PNA had now been published and circulated to key stakeholders as part of the statutory consultation process, and that a final PNA (post consultation) will be produced and presented at the HWB on 26 September for the board’s approval. The Director noted that the main conclusion of the draft PNA was that there are currently no needs to be identified in the provision of pharmaceutical services.

Resolved – (a) That the Health and Wellbeing Board note the contents of the draft PNA, (b) that the Board note the progress on producing North Lincolnshire’s final PNA, and also note that the steering group will consider consultation responses and incorporate, as appropriate, into the final document; and (c) that the Board note that the final PNA would be presented at its next meeting for consideration / approval.

The Director: Adults and Health and the North Lincolnshire NHS Place Director (Designate) submitted a joint report setting out progress on the 2021-22 Better Care Fund Plan.  The Better Care Fund (BCF) was a national programme which covered both the NHS and Local Government and encouraged integrated, joined up working between health and social care to improve the health and wellbeing of residents.  National conditions and performance metrics were set out in the report.

Resolved – That the Health and Wellbeing Board note the progress of the 2021-22 Better Care Fund Plan.

The Director of Governance and Communities confirmed that the next meeting of the Board would be on 26 September 2022.

There was no urgent or additional business.