Agenda item

The process for refreshing Surrey’s Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) is well underway and, now that we are acclimatising to ‘live with COVID-19’, updating the JSNA has moved on from a period of adaptation to business as usual. To be the valuable planning resource it is intended to be, the production of the JSNA must now receive fresh engagement from system partners, and resource must be carefully coordinated and balanced against parallel strategic commitments.

Witnesses:

Ruth Hutchinson - Director of Public Health, Surrey County Council

Key points raised in the discussion:

1.    The Director of Public Health (SCC) introduced the report and noted that:

·         At the next informal Board meeting there would be an item on the Surrey-wide Data Strategy of which the JSNA forms a part of.

·         The JSNA was a continuously updated document and had been around for over a decade.

·         Due to the Covid-19 pandemic starting in February 2020, the Board in June 2020 decided to refresh the JSNA approach and Community Impact and Rapid Needs Assessments were produced in autumn 2020 to support recovery.

·         The JSNA Operational and Oversight Group was re-established in July 2021, the Government’s ‘Living with COVID-19’ plan was published in February 2022 and the first round of refreshed JSNA chapters would be published from June 2022. 

·         The Board sits above the JSNA Operational and Oversight Group which had a broad membership across Surrey and provided a robust process, below sat the JSNA Working Group which looked at the mechanics of the JSNA; below that sat the Chapter Delivery Groups.

·         As there were forty chapters in the current JSNA there was a period of prioritisation to refresh key chapters first, assessment criteria looked at the priority population groups, the chapters most out of date, health inequalities and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

·         Priority One: the current JSNA chapters were sorted under the five outcomes of the Priority - those outlined in black sat across the outcomes - so gaps could be identified.

·         Priority Two: there was a new proposed chapter under outcome four ‘loneliness and social isolation’.

·         Priority Three: there was a new proposed chapter on ‘digital inclusion’.

·         The refresh of the JSNA sought to mirror the HWS.

Rachael Wardell left the meeting at 3.30 pm.

·         There were a number of chapters underway in line with the timetable and the aim was to produce at least four chapters by the end of quarter 2 and in total ten new refreshed chapters by the end of the year.

·         Producing a new chapter took around three months due to legislative requirements about what needs to be in the JSNA; co-produced by multiple partner organisations including the voices of lived experience, using up-to-date empirical evidence.

·         Stakeholder workshops were held and chapters were produced system-wide, clear roles and responsibilities ensured broad ownership, the host board would sign-off the relevant JSNA chapter.

·         Outlined the five recommendations and regarding the fifth it was important to ensure that when a chapter is produced that it would be used and promoted system-wide through communications.

2.    A substitute Board member sought clarity that the way that the refresh of the JSNA was being approached would pick up some of the direction of travel within the ICB legislation such as around having more granular data down to smaller place and community-levels, would it make closer links with the wider determinants of health, and would it be future-facing so it was predictive.

-       In response, the Director of Public Health (SCC) explained that:

-       Firstly, small area data was included where feasible and meaningful, if not able to go down to a smaller geographical area a reason was provided.

-       Secondly, regarding the wider determinants of health during the scoping exercise it was recognised that there were large gaps for example in Priority Three and therefore the relevant chapters would having more weighting in the prioritisation process.

-       Thirdly, future-facing the JSNA where feasible was being done but that was challenging.

-       She would feed those three points back to the JSNA Oversight Group, to look to see how the third point particularly can be incorporated into the JSNA.

3.    The Chairman noted that it was a complicated and comprehensive piece of work and assumed that the choice of those first ten chapters to be refreshed had been prioritised in some way.

-       In response, the Director of Public Health (SCC) clarified that the JSNA Oversight Group had a prioritisation framework for refreshing the chapters. 

4.    The Chairman asked for any detailed questions on any of the chapters or any particular issues with the process to be raised outside of the meeting.

RESOLVED:

1.     Noted that:

·         a JSNA Operational and Oversight Group (Oversight Group) has been established to oversee and direct the production of the JSNA refresh;

·         a comprehensive governance structure has been established underneath the Oversight Group to ensure the delivery of individual JSNA chapters; and

·         there is ambition to deliver 10 Chapter refreshes by quarter four 2022-23, although this is dependent on resourcing and engagement from the local system.

2.    Approved the continuation of a life-course based structure to the JSNA, i.e., publication of chapters under a life stage matrix. Noted and approved that chapters have been intentionally structurally aligned to HWB strategy priorities, outcomes and priority populations - the approach has already been agreed by the Oversight Group.

3.    Provided support to ensure that the local system considers and makes use of the findings from individual JSNA chapters as they are published, specifically to inform local health and care strategies and subsequent implementation plans. Approved that procedures are designed and embedded to HWB protocols to ensure that any strategy brought to the HWB is quality assured for its use-of, and reference-to, JSNA evidence.

4.    Provided support to increase awareness of and participation in the JSNA from partners across the Surrey health and social care system.

5.    Requested the HWB task the Oversight Group with connecting and aligning the ongoing development of the JSNA communication plan to the work of the Health and Well-Being Board Communications Group.

Actions/further information to be provided:

1.      The Director of Public health (SCC) will feed the three points made by the substitute Board member (Executive Place Managing Director, Surrey Heath (NHS Frimley CCG)) back to the JSNA Oversight Group, to look to see how the third point particularly can be incorporated into the JSNA.

2.      Board members outside of the meeting may raise any detailed questions on any of the chapters or any particular issues with the process.