Agenda item

This paper provides an overview of the progress of local shared projects supporting delivery of the Health and Wellbeing Strategy within each Priority (1-3) as of April 2021and sets out a draft approach for the review and refresh of the Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

Witnesses:

Ruth Hutchinson - Director of Public Health (SCC)

Simon Hart - Independent Chair, Surrey Safeguarding Children Partnership (SSCP)

Simon Turpitt - Independent Chair, Surrey Safeguarding Adults Board (SSAB)

Key points raised in the discussion:

1.    The Director of Public Health (SCC) highlighted the new format of the Highlight Reports which provided an overview of the progress made across Priorities One-Three, showed how collaborative working had made a difference and included a spotlight section on key programmes. The intention was to share the Highlight Reports more widely with partners such as through the Healthy Surrey website.

2.    The Independent Chair (SSCP) provided an update on the report on the two Thematic Reviews that were brought to the Board last September noting that:

·         the Thematic Reviews provided a practical understanding of self-harm and suicidal ideations within young people and he welcomed the large amount of activity undertaken since then.

·         the Thematic Reviews had been shared extensively across Surrey and commented that any organisations who had not been able to connect with the reviews, that they should contact the SSCP for a briefing.

·         that the national Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel which oversaw case review work for children and young people had expressed an interest in the Thematic Reviews, using them to promote some of the findings nationally raising the profile of the work in Surrey.

·         a substantial number of workshops and webinars had been provided to try and ensure that frontline staff were well briefed.

·         the SSCP Suicide Prevention Toolbox had been completed which helped frontline workers recognise the early signs and a Self-Harm Protocol was under development.

·         although as a result of the Thematic Reviews additional training and staff briefings would be put in place, work would only be effective if it was disseminated across the management level to ensure coaching was in place.

·         regarding the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in Surrey there was a safeguarding specific Alliance Reference Group chaired by the Board’s Vice-Chairman which looked at practical experiences from people working in schools, social care and health from a safeguarding perspective.

·         he welcomed the collaborative working of the Mental Health Partnership Board (MHPB), through which the safeguarding message was being heard and was being addressed in the system-wide longer-term plans towards a transformation in mental health services for young people in Surrey.

3. The Independent Chair (SSAB) provided an update on the SSAB noting that:

·         the link between the Board, SSCP and SSAB had strengthened which led to interesting dialogue and partnership working.

·         the SSAB had finalised its Annual Plan based on the three-year Strategic Plan and it was key to ensure that the SSAB’s voice was heard more widely in Surrey; a communications group had been established which was supported by the Multi-Agency Information Group (MIG) aligning communication messages across Surrey, and a voluntary group had been established.

·         a challenge concerning the new Annual Plan was ensuring the support of agencies; recognising resource and time constraints in the system and he reinforced that call for support from the Board.

·         improving engagement was a key focus going forward through public and frontline staff engagement as well as a focus on supervision and training for frontline staff.

·         risks to the Annual Plan’s implementation were a return to lockdown, staff burnout, delayed referrals being received in large quantities in both safeguarding and serious adult reviews, and similarly with the SSCP finding authors that could deliver a report quickly and efficiently.

·         supported the comment about the MHPB which had been a real opportunity for the SSAB to be involved, noting the strong mental health input to most of the cases received and emphasised the importance of partnership working across Surrey and its agencies.

4. The Director of Public Health (SCC) introduced the proposed approach to the review and refresh of the Health and Wellbeing Strategy noting that:

·         a clear rationale for undergoing the re-framing of the ten-year Strategy was that it was published back in 2019 and there had been significant change since.

-       The Strategy needed to align with: the draft Community Safety Agreement, changes in the life expectancy indicator, the Community Impact Assessment (CIA) recognising the exacerbating impact of the pandemic, the delivery of the NHS’s 2021/22 priorities and operational planning guidance, the transformation and recovery programmes with an emphasis on the empowering communities roadmap and place-based systems as an underlying principle for reducing health inequalities for all programmes; and to ensure that health inequalities were measurable as noted in the intelligence report - item 5.

·         the proposed next steps model had four stages with the first being the June Board meeting and the second stage being the informal Board meeting in July to discuss the programmes and principles of the Strategy, with the approval of the agreed programmes and principles and governance to follow at the September and December Board meetings.

·         proposed re-framings of the Strategy were in red text in the report and were ambitious in nature as on reflection the proposals would ensure a more explicit reference to ‘reducing health inequalities so no one is left behind’ re-stating it as the Strategy’s foremost ambition; and that was shown at the centre of the honeycomb graphic surrounded by Priorities One-Three, the system capabilities and priority populations.

-       the proposed re-framing of Priority One included the expansion of the Priority through emphasising the prevention of physical ill health by promoting physical wellbeing; and an additional outcome on ensuring that the needs of those experiencing multiple disadvantages were met, embedding the Priority into the work of the Making Every Adult Matter programme (MEAM).

-       the proposed re-framing of Priority Two included the expansion of the Priority through emphasising the prevention of mental ill health by promoting emotional wellbeing; and an additional outcome on supporting the emotional wellbeing of parents, caregivers, babies and children.

-       the proposed re-framing of Priority Three included the expansion of the Priority through emphasising the need to address the wider determinants of health; and three additional outcomes on meeting people’s basic needs, empowering children, young people and adults in their communities, and adults being able to access training and employment opportunities within a sustainable economy.

-       there was an overlap between the Priorities which did not sit in isolation.

-       the proposed re-framing of the five target priority populations arose from the evidence base from the CIA and Rapid Needs Assessments (RNAs) and need to expand the target population groups.

-       the proposed re-framing of the system capabilities included empowerment within the existing community development ethos, the inclusion of recovery and development concerning the workforce, the inclusion of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion agenda, and insights and evidence.  

Joanna Killian joined the meeting at 10.27am

5. The Chairman welcomed the informal Board session which was key for the development of the Strategy through evaluating and re-defining the principles and programmes and asked that pre-reading material be circulated to the Board.

RESOLVED:

That the relevant Proper Officer(s) in consultation with the Chairman:

1.    Noted progress reported against the three priorities.

2.    Supported wider use of the new format for the Highlight Report.

3.    Agreed the reframed Priorities, Outcomes, System Capabilities and Priority Populations (see appendix 2) to enable a refresh and alignment of the Strategy’s design principles and programmes.

4.    Agreed to an informal Board meeting in July to discuss:

·      The Strategy’s ongoing design principles

·      Criteria for the inclusion of programmes within the Strategy and on Board agendas

·      The Strategy’s programmes

·      Links to the Empowering Communities roadmap

·      Alignment as part of the broader Health Inequalities programmes.

5.    Acknowledged that any future changes to the roles, responsibilities and governance of the Board will be aligned to the requirements of the Health and Social Care white paper 2021 which are still to be confirmed by HM Government.

Actions/further information to be provided:

In advance of the Informal Board meeting in July with a date to be set in due course, pre-reading material will be circulated to the Board.