The Chair welcomed all attendees to the meeting and noted the apologies that had been received.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Tower Hamlets Health and Wellbeing Board held on. Also to consider matters arising.

RESOLVED

1.    That the minutes of the Board meeting of 19 September 2023 were agreed as a correct record.

To note any declarations of interest made by members of the Board. (See attached note of Monitoring Officer).

There were none.

Somen Banerjee, Director of Public Health introduced the report that proposed changes to the Board’s Terms of Reference to reflect the changes to the Integrated Care System covering the borough, the draft guidance on Health and Wellbeing Boards, to clarify voting rights and quorum, and also to better reflect the Board’s purpose and function.

RESOLVED that the Board:

1.    Recommends the proposed revised Terms of Reference as set out in Appendix 2 to the report to the Mayor for approval.

Charlotte Pomery, Chief Participation and Place Officer, NHS North East London, provided the Board with a brief presentation on the Big Conversation (BC). Charlotte explained that over the summer, the ICP surveyed around 2000 local people. The conversation focused on the four priorities for improving quality and outcomes and tackling health inequalities. The data from all the conversations was still being analysed but four themes had been identified Charlotte explained the four main themes arising and next steps, including how the BC would work to develop success measures that were underpinned by BC findings. She also explained how the BC had aimed to reached-out to otherwise hard to reach voices.

Further to questions from the Bord, Charlotte:

·         Explained her view of the potential overlaps and synergy between the work of the Big Conversation and Healthwatch. She felt BC provided an important additional source of residents input to complement Healthwatch.

·         Commented on the statistical relevancy of the respondent sample of 1,000 responses. She stressed that, whilst the sample was relevant, the feedback formed part of an ongoing, not a one-off, conversation. She expressed hope the work would develop and future feedback would supplement those received to date.

Further to questions, the Board made the following observations:

·         It was important for the Board to understand how the ICB and the Board could work together to achieve the priorities identified.

·         There were reassuring links and consistencies between this work and the Council’s Children and Families Strategy.

RESOLVED that:

1.    The Board noted the presentation.

Adam Price, Strategy and Policy Lead for Adults Social Care provided the Board with a brief presentation on the multi-agency Combating Drugs Partnership priorities. Adam provided an overview of the three Strategic Priorities and the six overarching outcomes. Finally he summarised the Partnership’s next steps, how success would be monitored and an overview of the governance of the  multi-agency partnership.

·         Further to questions from Board members, Adam and Ann Corbett (Director of Community Safety) explained

·         How alcohol abuse fitted into the partnership’s work. The Board discussed how new data reflected that the pattern of alcohol abuse and harm had changed and that the impact of alcohol abuse was very high and not only amongst the most deprived elements of the population. The Board also discussed the relationship between alcohol and youth violence, which was currently subject of research and data analysis.

·         That the metrics for success of the proposed strategy had yet to be developed.

Further to questions, the Board made the following observations:

·         A representative of the boroughs registered social landlords (RSLs) would  add value to the partnership.  Housing officers were felt to often represent the first line in drug-related issues.

·         The partnership must be alive to the risks posed by new and dangerous substances such as Fentanyl and Nitazenes

·         Whether the relationship between the partnership and local VCS organisations was able to best reach those community groups within which drug use was more prevalent.

RESOLVED that the Board noted the presentation.

Julie Dublin, Senior Programme Manager, Unplanned Care and Ben Gladstone, Service Head, Ageing Well, introduced the 2023/24 Winter Plan Update report. The winter plan was being developed to provide additional resource to support Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) resilience and performance during winter October 2023 to March 2024. The plan had been developed in collaboration with stakeholders representing system partners, from across health and social care. Ben and Julie provided a brief presentation setting out the context, themes, governance as well as an overview of the individual schemes and how each would be funded, where necessary.

Further to questions from the Board, Julie and Ben explained that it was too early to assess the benefits of warm spaces/hubs initiatives, but data would be assessed as part of overall commissioning.

Further to questions, the Board made the following observations:

·         Addressing low Covid vaccine take-up remains challenging in the borough, especially amongst Bangladeshi population. Building trust and communication is key to addressing this.

·         There were important links between this work and the Better Care Fund (BCF) (report elsewhere on the agenda) including alignment with   the BCF indicators.

Suki Kaur Deputy Director of Partnership Development, NHS North East London introduced the report that provided an update on the review of the two-year BCF plan was signed, originally agreed in July 2023. Suki explained the purpose of the review and how the BCF funds aligned to objectives. Suki also explained that, as at Q2 2023/24, four of the five indicators were off track. Deep dive reviews would help to understand whether the schemes were having the intended impact. Suki provided an overview of the Intermediate Care and Falls Pathway Review and explained the next steps which include taking a decision by March 2024 whether to refresh the BCF.

Further to questions from the Board, Suki explained that the position of the BCF in Tower Hamlets was similar to neighbouring London boroughs, but wider national benchmarking was not available.

Further to questions, the Board made the following observations:

·         It was important to note that the Council was ahead of both London and national benchmarks for supporting most people in their home. Despite an ambitious target, performance compared well to others.

·         It would be helpful to include data on underlying inequalities in the specification.

·         It would be helpful to include how partners have addressed and aligned resources to inform any future decisions on redistribution.  

RESOLVED that:

The Board notes the update report.

Layla Richards, Acting Director Commissioning and Youth provided a brief verbal update on the preparation of the SEND strategy, for which the Board was a key stakeholder. A pre-consultation draft of the strategy would be presented to the Board in Spring 2024, with the final version brought in Summer 2024.