Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting, inviting them to introduce themselves.

Carrie Butler, Healthwatch North Lincolnshire, substituted for Jennifer Allen.

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 6 March 2023, 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.  Board members were asked to feed through any additional business for inclusion on the Forward Plan.

Cllr Matthews asked a question about paediatric audiology services provided by Northern Lincolnshire & Goole NHS Foundation Trust.  The Director: Governance & Communities updated Cllr Matthews and the Board, provided a written update from the Trust to Cllr Matthews, and confirmed that the issue would be picked up by the Health, Integration and Performance Scrutiny Panel in due course.

The Director: Adults and Health, and the North Lincolnshire ICB Place Director submitted a joint End of Year report, which provided the Board with a summary of performance and progress against the Better Care Fund plan for 2022-23.

It was confirmed that, throughout 2022-23, North Lincolnshire had continued to meet the national conditions and all BCF schemes had been implemented. BCF funding had continued to have a positive impact on the integration of health and social care in North Lincolnshire and to support closer working across health, social care and the Voluntary and Community Sector. Partners had worked together in a joined-up way to improve the urgent community response and hospital discharge processes with a Home First ethos to support people to remain in their own homes for longer.

The Chairman led a discussion on the report, seeking assurance that the Better Care Fund was delivering its aims and outcomes.  It was confirmed that it was, with good progress on integration, shared ambitions, and avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions.  Further work was required on the longer-term aim of moving towards a preventative model of promoting health and wellbeing.

Cllr Hannigan stated that all of the necessary local structures were in place, so work was now focussing on the efficient delivery of services for local people.

Resolved – (a) That the Health and Wellbeing Board formally note the progress off the 2022-23 Better Care Fund Plan; and (b) that the Chairman raise the issue of aligning the Better Care Fund with the wider integration agenda with Ministers.

The North Lincolnshire ICB Place Director and the Director: Adults and Health submitted a joint report which built upon the previous item (minute 522 refers).  The report requested that the Health and Wellbeing Board consider, and if agreed, formally adopt and sign off the North Lincolnshire Better Care Fund Plan 2023-25. 

Details of the 2023-25 Plan were contained within the report and the accompanying Narrative Plan.

The Board discussed the report and Plan, highlighting areas for future updates.

Resolved - (a) That the Health and Wellbeing Board formally agree and sign off the 2023-25 Better Care Fund Plan; and (b) that multi-agency falls prevention, delayed discharge, and homes for older people all be incorporated into the Board’s Forward Plan.

The North Lincolnshire NHS Place Director submitted a report which summarised and incorporated the final draft of the Humber and North Yorkshire (HNY) Integrated Care System Joint Forward Plan.  These documents were scheduled to be submitted to the HNY Integrated Care Board on 14June.

The Place Director confirmed that the Place team had been actively involved in development of the Plan, in particular the North Lincolnshire element, and that local Partners had been involved in the development of the HNY Integrated Health and Care Strategy, which sets the strategic direction for the HNY ICS.

This work had also considered the alignment to the local direction of travel and vision for the North Lincolnshire Place as set out in the Strategic Intent and Community First Strategy.

The Chairman led a discussion on the report and the Joint Forward Plan, highlighting the primacy of ‘Place’ and the importance of the local Community First Strategy.  It was confirmed that work was progressing well on local improvements, as detailed in the Plan, and that arrangements were in place to influence services that are delivered on a wider footprint.

Resolved – That the Health and Wellbeing Board note the Humber and North Yorkshire Joint Forward Plan and the engagement which had been undertaken locally in the development of the Plan.

The North Lincolnshire NHS Place Director and the Director: Adults and Health submitted a joint report which highlighted that the Health and Wellbeing Board and the Place Partnership had a focus on, and commitment to, transforming the lives of people in North Lincolnshire through an integrated health and social care system.  A key strand of this was the Community First Approach, and the Community First Strategy, which had both recently been approved by the Board and endorsed by the Place Partnership.  

The document confirmed that the Community First Approach was transformational.  Whilst national drivers such as the Health and Social Care Act 2022 and the Fuller Report highlighted the importance of, and need for, health and social care integration, it was the action taken locally that would make this integration a reality.  The Community First Approach was part of the action that was being taken locally, which would achieve health and social care integration in North Lincolnshire, enabling people, and ensuring that they received the right care, in the right place at the right time.

The report set out how, based on prevention and enabling self-help, people would be able to act to keep themselves well, with the person and family at the heart of everything the health and social care system does.  

The Community First Strategy was based around three key areas: 

·       Integrated Neighbourhood Teams – which would ensure a fully integrated and preventative response across health, social care, housing, employment, and voluntary sectors.  

·       People would have their urgent needs met quickly by establishing an unplanned care response into a fully Integrated Urgent Care system. 

·       People would be safe and have good quality provision enable through a single Integrated Strategic Commissioning and Safeguarding approach that maximised Place resources to best effect to meet need and achieve the best quality of provision for residents. 

It was confirmed that the Community First Strategy would ensure that local care and support was designed to meet people’s need at the lowest level, with those most in need being prioritised.   The Community First Strategy replaced the former North Lincolnshire Health and Care Integration Plan 2021-2024.  

The Board discussed the developing model of care and support, including the shift to a model which emphasised prevention of poor health and wellbeing.

Resolved – That the Health and Wellbeing Board approve the Community First Strategy.

The Director: Adults and Health and the North Lincolnshire NHS Place Director submitted a joint report to update the Board about the ‘Making It Real’ Health and Social Care Integration event, hosted by the Place Partnership in May 2023.  Over 160 leaders from across health and social care took part, finding the event both useful and informative. Feedback from the event assures the Partnership that participants now have an excellent understanding of North Lincolnshire’s Community First Approach to health and social care integration.

It was explained that further actions were being planned and implemented, which would build on the success of this event and the momentum it had created.

Resolved – That the Health and Wellbeing Board note and endorse the update and the further actions described within the report.

The Director: Children & Families submitted a report to update the Health and Wellbeing Board of progress relating to the delivery of the Children’s Commissioning Strategy Refresh, specifically the focus on developing the local integrated children and families offer and the impact on children, young people and families.

The Director explained that, set in the context of the One Family Approach, the Children’s Commissioning Strategy Refresh resets the local integration priorities and commissioning intent across education, health and care for children and families across North Lincolnshire.  This aligned with the refreshed Place Partnership strategic intent and the new iteration of the Health and Care Integration Plan.    

The Director highlighted some local successes, stating that the Commissioning Strategy aimed to support family networks across their whole lives, rather than being a narrow ‘child-focussed’ document.

The Board discussed the report, highlighting the importance of the role of parents in supporting and empowering children and young people, backed up by local services where necessary.  Work on improving mental health services and reducing waiting lists was described and discussed further.

Resolved – That the Health and Wellbeing Board note the update in relation to the delivery of the Children’s Commissioning Strategy Refresh, specifically the local focus on developing a shared integrated children and families offer, and the impact on children and families.

The Director: Governance and Communities confirmed that the Board’s next public meeting would be at 2pm on 11 September 2023.

There was no urgent or additional business.