Agenda item

This paper provides an overview of the progress of local shared projects and communications activity supporting delivery of the three Health and Wellbeing Strategy priorities as of 6 September 2022 with the priority population groups. The Highlight Report provides an overview of each Priority, describes what has been achieved in the previous period and how collaborative working has aided this progress.

The Young Carers Strategy is included for the Board’s endorsement.

Witnesses:

Karen Brimacombe - Chief Executive, Mole Valley District Council (Surrey Chief Executives’ Group) (Priority One Sponsor)

Kate Barker - Joint Strategic Commissioning Convener - Children and Families, Surrey County Council and Surrey Heartlands ICS (Priority 2 Co-Sponsor)

Mari Roberts-Wood - Managing Director (Head of Paid Service), Reigate and Banstead Borough Council (Priority 3 Sponsor)

Key points raised in the discussion:

Priority One

1.    The Priority One Sponsor noted that:

·         Carers and young people are a priority population within the Health and Wellbeing Strategy (HWS) and the Board was being asked to endorse the Surrey Joint Strategy for Young Carers 2022 - 2024 (SJSYC).

·         Feedback from young carers during the consultation period on the SJSYC was that whilst they were proud to be a young carer it can have a negative impact on them, caring becomes normalised and therefore they do not seek support and teachers do not complete the young carers assessments as they are unsure when a young person is a carer.

·         The SJSYC would focus on ascertaining what the true figure of young carers across Surrey is, the scale of young carers was outlined in the report. 

·         A rapid review would be undertaken to identify the challenges in ensuring an appropriate transfer of information from primary to secondary education.

·         A new information system would be developed to capture the numbers of and demographic profiles of Surrey’s carers.

·         If identified numbers grow, the services that are provided might also need to grow and the SJSYC commits to developing peer support networks.

·         The SJSYC sets out strategic priorities and a vision for Surrey of young carers feeling recognised, valued and supported, and being protected from providing inappropriate care; also ensuring that young carers achieve their full potential with access to the same opportunities as their peers.

·         The SJSYC would be developed into an all-age Carers Strategy to be live from the end of 2024.

2.    A Board member welcomed the acknowledgement in the SJSYC of the importance of hearing young carers’ voices in every aspect of the work via the Young Carers Forum. For those young carers who do not wish to or were unable to engage with the Forum or did not self-identify as a carer, she asked how their voices would be captured. The identification of carers was vital so that support could be given, Healthwatch Surrey for example was finding that many adult carers did not self-identify as a carer.

-       In response, a Board member recognised the importance of finding other routes of engagement for hearing the voices of young people, who might not self-identify as a young carer. There were a range of different children's voice opportunities, for example the User Voice and Participation team engages with a wide range of children on a range of different issues. The SJSYC uses inquisitive language and it was important for staff working with children and young people to be curious about their lives, to ask the right questions in a gentle way and to explore their situation.  

Gemma Morris joined the meeting at 2.14 pm.

Priority Two

2.    The Priority Two Co-Sponsor noted that:

·         The ‘In the Spotlight’ section focused on the new outcome ‘Environments and communities in which people live, work and learn build good mental health’, in the report there was a comprehensive summary of a range of the activities that are in progress. ‘How are You Surrey?’ is a cross system piece of work underway which focused on vulnerable groups who are either in Adult Social Care and health or working in manual roles, to consider their emotional health and wellbeing in their workplace.

·         Work at the targeted neighbourhood level had commenced and a more comprehensive update would be provided at the next quarter as well as briefings to Members and place-based leads.

3.    A Board member referred to the preliminary meeting for the Empowered and Thriving Communities Board that morning where there was a discussion on focusing on the role of the Voluntary, Community and Faith Sector (VCFS) and the Community Foundation for Surrey and deploying some of that mental health resource funding and the role of communities in supporting that agenda. She noted that it would be helpful to link in with the Priority Two Co-Sponsor on that.

Nicola Airey joined the meeting at 2.19 pm.

Priority Three

4.    The Priority Three Sponsor noted that:

·         The Health in All Policies (HiAP) concept is an evidenced based system-led approach for reducing health inequalities; at November’s informal Board meeting there would be an item on the draft HiAP phase one action plan, building on observations made at the HiAP workshop that whilst leaders understood and were committed to the HWS, that commitment needed to be developed at a deeper level throughout the Board’s member organisations.

·         A PowerPoint - HWS Engagement Slide Deck - on the refreshed HWS which can be utilised for staff briefings would be sent after the meeting to Board members to disseminate to their organisations to embed the HWS.

·         Key objectives identified at the HiAP workshop were being delivered including identifying where there are cross-cutting issues and key players, such as within planning and transport. Positive impact would come from embedding HiAP into designing policies at an early stage, ensuring less retrofitting, joining up with the Healthy Workplaces approach.

·         The HiAP phase one action plan included a newly convened Health and Planning Forum to explore the need for health impact assessments across Surrey and updates to the ‘Creating healthier environments strategic guidance’.

·         Making Every Contact Count (MECC) would be included in the HiAP phase one action plan and is an approach which seeks to maximise opportunities in everyday interactions between councils, health partner services with residents to empower individuals and communities to make positive change in their health and wellbeing; there were some proposals for maximising the delivery of MECC through ‘train the trainer’ programmes and using community champions to work closely with communities.

·         More information had been included on Surrey County Council’s (SCC) website around Warm Hubs.

5.    A Board member noted that there was a lot underway regarding the HiAP approach and the item at November’s informal Board meeting would provide the details and next steps.

6.    The Chairman reinforced that request for Board members to circulate the HWS Engagement Slide Deck across their organisations.

RESOLVED:

1.    Noted progress against the three priorities of the Strategy in the Highlight Report (Annex 1).

2.    Would utilise the link to the refreshed Health and Well-being Strategy to increase awareness through their organisations to elicit support for reducing health inequalities.

3.    Endorsed the Young Carers Strategy (Annex 2).

Actions/further information to be provided:

1.    The Priority Two Co-Sponsor will liaise with the Board member (Denise Turner-Stewart) regarding the role of the VCFS and the Community Foundation for Surrey for example and deploying some of that mental health resource funding and the role of communities in supporting that agenda.

2.    The PowerPoint - HWS Engagement Slide Deck - on the refreshed HWS which can be utilised for staff briefings will be sent after the meeting to Board members; Board members will look to disseminate that to their organisations to embed the HWS.