Health and Wellbeing Board

 

24 July 2024

 

Report of the Chair of the York Health and Wellbeing Board

 

Chair’s report and updates

Summary

1.    This paper is designed to summarise key issues and progress which has happened in between meetings of the Health and Wellbeing Board (HWBB), giving Board members a concise update on a broad range of relevant topics which would otherwise entail separate papers.

Key Updates for the Board

Partnership

2.    York Health and Care Collaborative: an update from the collaborative is at Annex A to this report.

3.    The Ageing Well Partnership continues to co-ordinate identified priorities under this arm of the Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy. One of the 10 outcomes under the strategy was to look to reduce the proportion of adults who report feeling lonely from 25% to 20%. We recognise that York does not perform well here even though it is asset rich with a wide range of social offers. We worked alongside York, Hull & Sheffield Universities through the Curiosity Partnership to try to create a better understanding of this “conundrum”. This utilises the Partnership’s infrastructure and capacity to support universities, local authorities the voluntary and community sectors and local citizens to collaborate and address local priorities, through the research partnership.

4.    In March a loneliness showcase was delivered at the Guildhall which combined showcasing a range of asset-based approaches including local area coordination, social prescribing, Homeshare, Musical Connections and York Cares, recognising the Think Local Act Personal rainbow of community centred approaches, that are used in York to help reduce social isolation as well as workshops to try to get a clearer understanding of the challenges in York and the potential ways forward. Presentations were delivered by the Director of Public Health on loneliness data in York, alongside a keynote address from Dr Kalpa Kharicha, Kings College London and research lead at the Campaign to End Loneliness. Dr. Jon Burchell from the University of Sheffield also presented research findings on a two year study of local area coordination, a summary of the research and blog has been produced by the National Local Area Coordination Network here  a blog recognising local area coordination as a bridge from loneliness to active citizenship, supporting isolated residents to connect well in their communities, develop good relationships and build social networks.

5.    Although it is recognised that this is an all-age issue, often triggered by a significant life change, there is a strong impact on older communities which is why this piece of work was led through the Ageing Well Partnership. There was a view that we were not comparing like with like by using regional comparators (York performing 3rd worse across Yorkshire and Humberside). It was therefore agreed that we should compare with equivalent cities like Oxford and Chester to see if this changes how York performs. It was noted that due to York and equivalent cities having a wide range of opportunities, the expectations of social engagement may be higher in York than in other parts of the region. If results show that actually the self-reporting loneliness figures are comparable to equivalent cities, then the actions may be more around how we continue to offer an asset-based approach in a climate of reduced funding to prevent an increase in reporting feeling lonely.

6.    A report from the Curiosity Partnership on the Loneliness Showcase and copies of the presentations are available on request.

7.    The Age Friendly Communities, World Health Organisation toolkit is the agreed approach to support delivery against the ageing well arm of the strategy. Some examples of some more recent impacts are:

Ø Supporting the International Day of Older People for the second year, celebrating older people contribution to society through stories and creativity.

Ø Home Instead wins socially responsible business 2023 which includes their work in partnership with Age Friendly York for Take A Seat.

Ø Created Age Friendly York Ambassadors providing the opportunity for York citizens to contribute and influence change through topics they are passionate about.

Ø Promoted taxi survey to try to improve the offer of residents that use a wheelchair.

ØCo-produced discussion groups on older people prevention commissioning; domestic abuse and environmental impacts on older people.

ØProviding a joined up approach to making an impact for people with dementia and their carers through creating shared action points.

 

Children and Young People

8.    The School Health and Wellbeing Survey 2023 was commissioned by Public Health and is the second large scale survey on the health and wellbeing of children and young people in the city carried out between 2021 - 2024. The aim of the survey is to inform and support policy and decision making across the local authority, in schools, and among other key stakeholders in the city. The survey covered a range of health-related topics and was available to pupils in years 4 and 6 in primary schools, years 8 and 10 in secondary schools, and year 12 in sixth forms. The questions focused on social context, health outcomes, health behaviours and health harms relevant to young people’s health and wellbeing.

9.    The survey was open to all schools across York (excluding private and independent settings) and ran between November 2023 through to January 2024. There were a total of 2,956 participants, with 1033 responses from 15 primary schools and 1,923 responses from six secondary/sixth-form schools.

10. This year the University of York assisted with co-production and development of the questionnaires to include validated measures and scales and the Business Intelligence Team carried out the data analysis.

11. Schools received their own data pack, with an individual school level report, as well as a city-wide summary report. All reports have now been shared with the participating schools and an animation has been commissioned to share with young people. Results can be found on: https://www.healthyork.org/

12. Stakeholders have also been briefed on the positive, persisting and emerging trends within the data and work is ongoing to understand what we can do as a city to deliver interventions at a community and population level to improve health and wellbeing outcomes and reduce inequalities. The findings also aim to help schools develop priorities, establish programmes, and advocate for resources for health programmes and policies.

13.The York Neurodiversity Programme currently consists of two projects:

·        ADHD Foundation Charity Project (CYC funded)

·        Partnership in Neurodiversity in Schools Project (DfE funded via the ICB)

 

14. The long-term outcomes include:

·        Enable neurodiverse children and young people to meet their educational potential (achieve their targets and expectations).

·        Increase participation in classroom and social environments / experiences.

·        Build the culture of Joint Partnership to support neurodiverse children and young people.

·        Improve preparation for adulthood outcomes for neurodiverse children and young people – ensuring they are aspirational.

·        Embed strengths-based approach to neurodiversity.

 

15. The programme includes a programme of webinars for education professionals and parents/carers which will run until December 2024. Eight schools are engaged with the ADHD Friendly Schools award and 9 schools will receive training and support through the PINS project.

16.The SEND Health Needs Assessment has been completed and signed off by the SEND Partnership Board. The Board has asked that the recommendations are turned into an action plan. Delivery of the action plan will be monitored by the SEND Partnership Board. The findings from the Health Needs Assessment will also be used to inform the review of the SEND Strategy and the Joint Commissioning statement which will be taking place in September/October 2024.

Public Health

17.A new Drug and Alcohol Service launched: from 1st July, leading health and social care charity Change Grow Live (CGL) are the new provider of York Drug and Alcohol Service. The charity will deliver a £1.8m service to provide community-based treatment and interventions for York residents wishing to access support for substance/alcohol use. Change Grow Live helps tens of thousands of people each day, delivering over 150 services across the UK including supporting individuals, families and communities whose lives are adversely affected by crime, substance use, homelessness, anti-social behaviour, domestic violence, social deprivation and lack of opportunity.

18. Locally, Change Grow Live (CGL) will deliver an integrated alcohol and drug treatment and recovery service to be available to all York residents. Recovery is at its core, as well as recognising the role that trauma exposure can have on our residents, enabling them to be free from drug and/or alcohol dependence and enter recovery. CGL also provide harm reduction and safer use guidance for people who do not want recovery at this moment but want to take substances in a safer way and stay well until they may wish to make further changes in their lives.

19. The service will support everyone, at all ages, providing dedicated support for adults and children and young people. York residents can access treatment and support through contacting the service directly, or through referrals from local health and care professionals. There is a single point of contact telephone number (01904 464 680) and online referral/self-referral form.

20.Health Protection: Several health protection issues have been concerning public health teams over the last months. These are listed below:

·        Measles rates have been high, comparable with 2018 which saw a number of large outbreaks, and around a third of cases have required some form of hospital treatment. The majority of cases were not fully vaccinated; rates are now stabilising, and a national drive around vaccination is feeding through into coverage rates. If people are unsure of their vaccination status or that of their children, they are advised to ask their GP

·        Pertussis (whooping cough) rates have also been high, and sadly there have been a number of infant deaths – York has very high coverage for maternal pertussis vaccine and we encourage people who are pregnant to ensure they are vaccinated to reduce the risk of harm to their new born

·        There has been a national rise in rates of Shiga Toxin-producing e.coli (STEC), which has now been linked to a possible food item source, and has involved product recall

·        Data has also been published on STI rates, which are rising in York and nationally (for example gonorrhoea, syphilis, and new Sexually Transmitted Infections) whilst and screening rates for diseases such as chlamydia are falling

 

21.City of York Council Health newsletter: We have recently started a fortnightly newsletter from CYC focussing on all types of health matters, which has signed up 1,395 subscribers in just a couple of months, and with a strong open rate. You can sign up using this link.

22.CYC Health Trainer Team success: Our Health Trainer team has released its most recent service data. In the most recent year, the 1152 referrals. The general service saw 492 referrals, 366 people engaged, with 86% achieving 1 or more goals, and 67% achieving all goals. On the stop smoking specific service, there were 660 referrals – 331 set a quit date, 72% successfully quit at 4 weeks. The service accepts self referrals The health trainers can also offer support around smoking and vaping for teenagers, healthy eating and weight management and support and guidance around alcohol use.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author:

Responsible for the report:

Compiled by Tracy Wallis

Health and Wellbeing Partnerships Co-ordinator

 

 

 

 

Cllr Lucy Steels-Walshaw

Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care

 

 

Report Approved

b

 

Date

  

15.07.2024

 

Specialist Implications Officers

Not applicable

 

Wards Affected:  

 

All

b

 

For further information please contact the author of the report

 

 

Annexes

Annex A: Update from the York Health and Care Collaborative