Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Dr Elizabeth Lunt, Sheri Green, Graham Harris, Sarah Kilkie, and Lesley Bowles.

The Chairman welcomed all attendees to the meeting especially Ms Jo Pannell to her first meeting as the new Healthwatch representative.

There were no declarations of interest received.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Dartford Gravesham and Swanley Health and Wellbeing Board held on 7 December 2016 are attached for confirmation.

Issues arising from the Minutes 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 7 December 2016 were confirmed as a correct record of that meeting subject to a minor typographic correction.

The Chairman may wish to report on any issues of relevance to this Board arising from the meeting held on 25 January 2017

The agenda for the meeting is attached as an aide memoire.

The Chairman updated the Board on two issues of relevance to our Board which had been discussed at the meeting of the Kent HWB held on 25 January 2017.

Councillor Gough reported that the Kent Board had discussed the future direction of the Better Care Fund, and had considered the next 2 year’s funding streams which would be made available direct to local authorities and would be targeted at closer integration of Health Care.

The Kent Board also discussed Outcome 1 of the Kent Health and Wellbeing Strategy, “Every Child has the Best Start in Life”.  The discussion centred around areas of performance / underperformance of the Strategy and concentrated on

·         Issues relating to Child immunisation programmes

·         Childhood Obesity

·         Integrated Commissioning and better alignment in North Kent  

The Board received a report which aimed to provide an update on work being undertaken by the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Kent Public Health, reviewing the efficacy of the Falls Pathway within Dartford, Gravesham & Swanley (DGS).

Information on this had been provided in December 2015 and August 2016, and that a number of issues had been identified and highlighted on each occasion.

It was also noted that the Kent HWB had requested a report from each local HWB on the issues of falls prevention for consideration at their March 2017 meeting.

Having considered the update report Board Members highlighted the following issues as being of concern bearing in mind the work being undertaken

·         The increasing numbers of Accident and Emergency attendances due to falls

·         The relatively high levels of long term hospital admissions due to falls

·         Reporting problems for attendances which is identified in the report as an issue.

·         The apparent conflict between the statistics provided.

Dr Sahota highlighted the difficulty involved in identifying those at risk who were house bound and suggested that a simple blood pressure test, when sitting and then standing could aid in this respect.

Allison Duggal informed the Board that having read the report she was aware that additional information on the matter was available and that she would wish to present a more substantial report to a future meeting of the Board.

The Board agreed:

a)            That the report together with a short covering item highlighting the DGS concerns be passed to the Kent HWB for its March meeting, and;

b)            To receive a further more detailed report on Falls at a Future Board meeting.

The Board was reminded that a report had been requested setting out the work currently undertaken by the three constituent Boroughs to encourage residents to participate in sporting activities.

Having considered this report it was noted that while Council’s provided facilities and in some cases funding for local sports clubs and individual participants the increasing financial constraints on Local Authorities was impacting on their ability to provide these.

Additionally it was recognised that National Governing Bodies were increasingly changing the focus of funding streams for sports clubs (and Individuals) with a greater emphasis on elite funding.

The Board agreed

1.    To invite a representative of Sport England to address the board on funding issues and priorities in future years

2.    to note the content of the report

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

There were no urgent items for the Board to consider.

The Board received and noted a report on issues outstanding from previous meetings.

The clerk to the meeting reported that he had canvassed Members regarding alterations to arrangements for the schedule of meetings for the forthcoming year and had received replies from a number of Members although a significant number had yet to comment and proposals were yet to be formulated.

Accordingly the Chairman asked if any Member who was still to comment could do so in the very near future to facilitate the completion of the meeting plan for the next year.

The was no information for dissemination.

The Board considered a report on its programme of work for the forthcoming year.

It was reported that the next meeting, the last in the current Municipal Year, was scheduled to be held on Wednesday 12 April 2017 at Dartford, and that a significant number of reports were due to be considered. 

Arising from the discussion of item 6 on the Agenda, Mr Hall reported that he would be able to invite a representative from Sport England to address the Board and provide information on funding questions.

Mr Hall agreed to liaise with the Clerk to the meeting to identify a suitable date for this.