Presentation Slides attached.

The Board received a presentation that provided a progress update on the work being undertaken to develop a new Health & Wellbeing Strategy for the Borough. Members were provided details of the engagement work that has been completed to date, and proposals for amending the approach to the next phase of strategy development considering the Covid-19 coronavirus. The discussions on this presentation maybe summarised as follows.

The Board

• Noted that prior to Covid-19 Tower Hamlets was on a pathway for developing a new Health and Wellbeing Strategy and the principles were around coproduction locality focus and delivery. 
• Noted that health data was considered, and strategies were reviewed
• Was informed that there had been several workshops with providers; and service users. Healthwatch also had conducted a resident conversation at local level to identify the issues that mattered to residents. It was intended that prior to the pandemic that there should have been a summit to bring all this together and think through priorities.
• However, Covid-19 has changed the landscape therefore it is recognising that that has been a lot of work that has done bit for which obviously we do not wish to lose.
• Recognised that we need to think slightly differently about our vision and especially around the inequalities that Covid-19 has highlighted in our society. This can be seen in several ways but the most obvious from doctor’s perspective is the disproportionate number of people affected in Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities. E.g. in the medical community across the country 90 percent of the doctors who have died were from BAME communities. It is therefore very stark, and analysis has identified several reasons (i) poverty. (ii) overcrowded housing (iii) specific diseases like diabetes and obesity that clearly play a factor in all of this. Therefore, there is a whole raft of risk factors which fundamentally go to the core of preventative medicine and how we intervene at a much earlier stage both an illness but also to prevent the illness.  For example, if you take something like diabetes, we are in a very good position probably one of the best positions in the country because we have been running a project on preventative proactive work with patients with diabetes. Tower Hamlets has patients with diabetes who the best cholesterol and blood pressure control in the country.  You might say what has that got to diabetes the answers these things are all interrelated and the key to diabetes also to is not just the drugs prescribed that is a very small part of managing diabetes fundamentally the food one eats; the type of food the amount you eat; your weight; the amount of exercise you take are all critical and sometimes more important.
• Noted that this process has highlighted the inequalities that have been highlighted in this process. Therefore, fundamentally what we should do what will be the long-term legacy to Covid-19 as with the Second World War the biggest legacy was the foundation of the NHS. That came  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3

The Committee will receive a presentation on the recovery from Covid 19.