Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor David Turner, Lesley Bowles, Graham Harris, Sarah Kilkie, and Andrew Scott – Clarke.

There were no declarations of Interest made by Members.

The minutes of the meeting of the Dartford Gravesham, and Swanley Health and Wellbeing Board held on 6 April 2016 are attached for confirmation.

Issues arising not addressed elsewhere on the Agenda can be raised at this item.

The minutes of the meeting of the Dartford Gravesham and Swanley Health and Wellbeing Board held on 6 April 2016 were confirmed as a correct record.

The Chairman may wish to report on any issues of relevance to this Board arising from that meeting.

A copy of the Agenda is attached as an “Aide Memoire”

The Chairman reviewed the meeting of the Kent Health and Wellbeing board held on 25 May 2016 and reported on the following matters which could impact on our Board area.

·         Draft Kent sustainability Plan

·         Kent Better Care Fund

·         Workforce Task and finish Group

·         Addressing Obesity: Progress Report from Local Health and Wellbeing Groups

·         The Abridged Kent Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) Overview Report

The Chairman will report on any urgent item and determine its position on the Agenda.

The Chairman reported that there were no urgent items for the Board to consider.

The Board received a report on work issues which were outstanding from previous meetings and noted that the issue of grant funding for sports clubs had been added to the work plan.

It was reported that tentative enquiries had been received from the Swale Health and Wellbeing Board regarding a possible merger between the two areas.

It was noted that the Swale Board was experiencing some difficulties, both cultural and organisational, which was affecting its ability to function efficiently and that a merger with our Board was perceived as a possible remedy for the problems being experienced.

The Board discussed the matter and while being sympathetic towards the needs of Swale, expressed the following concerns regarding any merger.

·         A loss of focus that might be experienced by our Board should another group join

·         The lack of knowledge of Swale and its problems which may erode the working relationships that had been built during the operation of our Board

·         The administrative and management difficulties that such a merger would generate

·         The expansion of work load which would inevitably occur.

Accordingly it was agreed that it would not be in the best interest of this Board to merge with the Swale HWB and thus that the Swale board should be advised accordingly.

Stuart Collins and Thom Wilson will report on Children’s Groups and the Development of Children’s Partnership Boards are developing.

The Board received a presentation and report from Stuart Collins which explained the recently introduced Kent Children and Young People’s Plan, and set a panel of key indicators against which each of the Board’s three areas performed.

Mr Collins then presented individual data, in a “Performance Dashboard” basis which allowed comparison between areas against the indicators identified in the plan using the whole county levels as a benchmark figure.

He also added some data relating to missing children which had not been available when the report was produced.

Mr Collins explained that information relating to Swanley was contained within the individual data sheet for Sevenoaks but assured the Board that this would be rectified  in the next report he made to the Board.

In general Mr Collins believed that the three Board areas were performing reasonably, and certainly better than some areas of Kent, and he highlighted some disparities across the Board areas and sought to explain them.

The Chairman thanked Mr Collins for his report and asked that the Board noted its content.

A presentation by Dr Su Xavier.

The Board received a presentation from Dr Xavier which considered the factors which were expected to impact upon the provision of Health Care across the Board area:

·         An increasing level of demand for primary care from local residents

·         Rising projected levels of population growth in the Board area;

·         The speed of population growth and the projected age structure of the growth;

·         The location of growth and the format that new developments were to take; and,

·         Possible responses to growth

Dr Xavier reported that a steering group headed by the CCG was currently reviewing health care provision and structure, both current and projected; including GP numbers in the future, and had identified significant issues with maintaining the current provision model.

She stressed that based on the clinical model development work with Member GPs, it was believed that there would be a need for an additional three or four strategically placed integrated health and social care hubs to cater for future need, and presented a model of the provision which it was projected would need to be available.

Dr Xavier further informed the Board that the steering group was to meet in the near future and would be setting a firm way forward which would be reported to the Board in due course.

The Chairman thanked Dr Xavier for her presentation, asked the Board to note the information, and looked forward to receiving further updates on the matter in due course.

In the absence of Sarah Kilkie, who was leading on this matter, Melanie Norris reported that two dates had been identified as being suitable for the workshop, (the 25^th and 31^st of August) which was to be held at Gravesham Civic Centre.

Having considered the availability of Members it was agreed that the workshop be held on 25 August 2016 commencing at 9.00pm at Gravesham Civic Centre, Windmill Street, Gravesend, DA12 1AU.

The Board received a report which detailed the programme of meetings and venues for the forthcoming Municipal Year, and which sought guidance on whether a meeting in August 2016 should be held and on what date. 

It was noted that Members had already committed themselves to the LGA workshop in the morning of the 25^th of August, and that it would be sensible to continue as a group later that day.

It was therefore agreed that the August meeting of the Board be held on 25 August, at Gravesham Civic Centre commencing at 1.30pm.

Mr Collins informed the Board that in addition to his existing post he had been appointed as Head of the Youth Offending Service.

The Board received and noted the current schedule of work programmed to be considered at its meetings in the current year together with a list of items yet to be programmed.

It was noted that the agenda for the August meeting seemed very heavy and the Chairman undertook to review the number of items which were to be considered once it became clear exactly what was to be presented.

Additionally it was noted that there seemed to be a severe reduction in the service being offered by the DAAT team, possibly due to budget reductions, and it was agreed that a report on this should be presented to the Board as soon as possible.