Health and Wellbeing Board

 

24 January 2024

 

Report of the Chair of the York Health and Wellbeing Board

 

Chair’s report and updates – January 2024

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.

2.           It will consider:

·               Board business

·               Local updates for the board

·               National updates for the board

·               Actions on recommendations from recent Healthwatch reports

Board Business

1.           Following the November meeting of the HWBB the draft Terms of Reference for the HWBB are now being considered by the Constitution Working Group prior to being submitted to Full Council for approval. Once approved by Full Council the new Terms of Reference will be valid.

Key Local, Regional and National Updates for the Board

Winter Pressures

2.           We know that the NHS is experiencing a very difficult period, with flu and covid rates rising concurrently during December and early January, and industrial action affecting service delivery and leading to cancellation of routine care, further increasing the backlog of elective procedures. A new dashboard has been launched by UK Health Security Agency which gives weekly data updates on the rates of infection, hospitalisation, and death from COVID, Flu and other winter viruses.

Fuel for Thought

3.           City of York has launched a new campaign, Fuel for Thought, raising awareness around solid fuel burning. Long-term exposure to air pollution (specifically fine particulates or PM2.5) was a contributory factor to the cause of death in 4.4% of deaths in those over 30 years old in York in 2021 – around 90 deaths, and it is estimated that about 20% of the harm comes from indoor solid fuel burning. There are ways of making it less harmful, however, as the campaign sets out.

Early Talk for York award

4.           Some great news to celebrate: our ‘Early Talk for York’ speech and language programme, which has been a collaboration between health, children’s services, and early years settings in the city, won the ‘Learning Award’ at the Children and Young People Now Awards.

Gambling related harm

5.           A multi-agency network brought partners in York together to discuss the health harms relating to gambling. OHID provided input coming out of the national evidence review on gambling harms, with some shocking statistics. The UK has one of the biggest gambling markets in the world, generating a profit of £14.2 billion in 2020. 54% of the adult population, or 40% when you exclude the National Lottery, gamble more than four times a year, 0.5% of the population reached the threshold to be considered experiencing problem gambling, and 3.8% of the population are classified as gambling at elevated risks. Gambling is related to health inequalities, and there is strong evidence in the review of financial, relationship mental and physical health, employment and educational, criminal, and anti-social behaviour and cultural harms.

Launch of YSJ Institute for Health and Care Improvement

6.           In December York St John university opened an Institute for Health and Care Improvement which aims to bring together academics from across the University to find solutions for the pressing issues facing health and social care today.

CMO’s annual report

7.           The Chief Medical Officer’s annual report has been published on ‘Health in an Ageing Society’. It’s a very interesting read, especially given York has a higher proportion of over 65s and 85s – one of the CMO’s key points is that the future of our health and care system will depend on helping people stay healthy as they age.

 

Other Updates

8.           There are continued pressures in York around provision of dental services, including some recent changes to some providers no longer taking on NHS patients and pressures in the emergency dental pathway. At a recent City of York Council Health Housing and Adults Scrutiny meeting (13th December 2023), which the Health and Wellbeing Board may wish to note, discussions were held between committee members and Public Health, ICB and dentistry colleagues, with some future plans around commissioning and extra provision outlined, future Board sessions will discuss this issue further.

9.           City of York Council will be publishing its 2024/5 budget in papers to Executive on 17th January 2024, due to be considered by Full council in February. Resource pressures within health and social care will mean that, this coming year more than ever, partners around the Health and Wellbeing Board will need to work together to meet our Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2022-32 commitment to ‘build a collaborative health and care system’.

Update from the Co-chairs of the York Mental Health Partnership (YMHP)

10.        The followingparagraphs are an update from Professor Lynne Gabriel; one of the co-chairs of the York Mental Health Partnership.

Community Mental Health Hubs Update

 

11.        The planned Community Mental Health Hub development forms a central part of York’s community mental health transformation; ultimately creating portals through which multiple mental health and wellbeing needs can be met in one location. 

12.        A Hub planning meeting was held in mid-December. All current Mental Health Partnership leads who contribute to the development of the Hub and its provision, and who attend the York Joint Delivery Board, attended the event. All partners committed to either leading on or supporting the core tasks that are required for transitioning from the post-pilot Hub phase through to the embedding of the York Community Mental Health Hub model into co-designed collaborative local delivery of community mental health services. 

13.        The York co-production network’s Conversation Cafes continue to inform the Hub developments.

14.        The timeline for the opening of Community Mental Health Hub 1, 2, and 3: Hub 1 scheduled to open in April 2024, with Hubs 2 and 3 opening in Autumn 2024. Work is well underway for Hub 1, supported by the programme team, Innovation Unit, Hub manager, and the Joint Delivery Board.

15.        Potential locations for the hubs are being scoped as is the offer to residents.

Update on Realigning the York Mental Health Partnership

 

16.        The Mental Health Partnership is currently a sub-group of the York Health and Wellbeing Board. Discussions are ongoing to realign the Mental Health Partnership (YMHP) to the York Health and Care Partnership (Place Board) to allow for more flexibility in operation, lines of authority and utilisation of mental health funding. 

17.        At the December York Mental Health Partnership meeting, partners discussed the realignment and agreed that the opportunity to align with the York Health and Care Partnership Board would provide greater flexibility and ability to continue the community mental health transformation. Briefing reports to the Health and Wellbeing Board would ensure that all key partners in the system were updated on work and developments.

18.        In discussing the potential for realignment, partners revisited the Connecting Our City and the YMHP vision, aims and work. The original impetus - to create a mental health system and ways of working that epitomises person-centred care, compassionate, accessibility and inclusivity - remains important. The provision of relational centred practice was important, as was a commitment to continue to challenge and leverage positive and productive system change for the benefit of the population.

19.        Additionally, the core work programme of the YMHP continues to be important and, as part of realignment, the partnership’s Terms of Reference will be reconfigured to restate agreed aims, represent lines of reporting, reflect appropriate partnership membership, progression, and work programme. The partnership agreed that the Health and Care Partnership could provide a facilitative alignment to support advancement of York’s community mental health transformation. The original co-created aims, which continue to apply, are that we create a mental health system in which:

·               We all feel valued by our community, connected to it, and can help shape it, we are able to help ourselves and others, and we build on our strengths.

·               We can access support with confidence.

·               We are proud to have a mental health service that is built around our lives, listens to us, is flexible and responds to all our needs.

Recommendations from Healthwatch York Reports

20.        Healthwatch York present valuable reports to the HWBB on a variety of subjects pertaining to the health and wellbeing of York’s residents. These reports contain recommendations that organisations represented at the HWBB are asked to respond to. Providers and commissioners are asked to regularly update Healthwatch York on how they have implemented these recommendations.

21.        Consideration also needs to be given to developing a process for monitoring these recommendations and it is suggested that the Health and Wellbeing Partnerships Co-ordinator and the Director of Public Health meet with the Manager at Healthwatch York to progress this.


 

Author:

Responsible for the report:

Tracy Wallis

Health and Wellbeing Partnerships Co-ordinator

 

 

 

Cllr Jo Coles

Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care

 

 

Report Approved

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Date

  

15 January 2024

 

 

 

Specialist Implications Officers

Not applicable

 

Wards Affected:  

 

All

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For further information please contact the author of the report

 

 

Annexes

None.