Councillors and committees

Agenda item

BOARD BUSINESS

To update the Board on any key issues relevant to its areas of work, membership and terms of reference.

Minutes:

Co-Chair of the Board

It was reported that Andy Brooks would be stepping down as Co-Chair at the end of March 2015, and this would therefore be his last meeting in that role.  The Chairman thanked him on behalf of the Board for his contribution as Co-Chairman.  In response, Andy Brooks thanked the Board and officers for their support and their contribution to the progress the Board had made over the past year.

 

Liz Lawn would be taking over as Co-Chair from 1 April 2015, and the Board would be asked to formally ratify her appointment at the meeting in June 2015.

 

Sophie Baker

 

It was noted that this was Sophie Baker’s last meeting before taking up a new role in Adult Social Care, and the Board thanked her for her support and wished her well for the future.

 

Letter From Norman Lamb

 

Copies of a letter from Norman Lamb MP, Minister for Care and Support, were tabled at the meeting.  The letter recorded his personal thanks and appreciation to Maggie MacIsaac, Chief Operating Officer at North East Hampshire and Farnham CCG, for Surrey being one of the first areas to submit a comprehensive mental health crisis care concordat action plan.

He recognised and valued the work being done in Surrey, particularly around preventing crises and the Time Out Cafe model in Aldershot (which would be rolled out across the County as a result of the successful Transformation Challenge Award bid).  It was noted that the work being undertaken in Surrey was also being presented at a national Local Government Association/Association of Directors of Adult Social Services event in March.

 

Substance Misuse Strategy Consultation

 

It was reported that the consultation to shape the drug section of the Substance Misuse Strategy had now been launched.  The Surrey Substance Misuse Partnership was developing a Strategy to prevent and reduce social and physical harm caused by substance misuse in Surrey.

The Partnership aims to offer every support to make drug taking less accessible and desirable, and to enable and motivate people to fully recover from drug dependency. They are committed to working together with partners including service users, families and communities, to make this strategy the best it can be for our population. Contributions and opinions were being sought to enable local communities to support more individuals to become free of their dependence and contribute to society.  Board members were encouraged to complete survey on Surrey Says or the Healthy Surrey website.

 

Winter Preparedness

 

The Chairman highlighted that he previously included letters from NHS England in his announcements, highlighting the many ways partners help people keep healthy during winter - for example; flu vaccination programmes, healthy homes initiatives, messages to prevent the spread of viruses etc.  Tying into this, at the private meeting in February, the Board discussed the forward plan, of which one of the upcoming items discussed was 'Social Responsibility'.  At that meeting the Board discussed ways partner organisations could encourage residents to encourage and enable self care and a focus on healthy living, and the aim was to bring these together in the form of a joint campaign ready for next winter. 

 

The Board made the following recommendation:

 

That the Health & Wellbeing Communications Group be asked to work together across organisations to co-ordinate winter messages, share knowledge and pool efforts to make it easier for Surrey residents to remain well over the winter months.

Action by: All Board Members