Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Graham Harris, Nick Moor, Andrew Scott – Clark, and Jo Pannell.

The Board noted the attendance of Allison Duggal, representing Mr Scott – Clark and Theresa Olivier representing Ms Pannell.

There were no declarations of interest received.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Dartford Gravesham and Swanley Health and Wellbeing Board held on 28 June 2017 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 Dartford Gravesham and Swanley Health and Wellbeing Board held on 28 June 2017 were confirmed as a correct record of that meeting.

The Chairman may wish to report on any issues of relevance to this Board arising from the meeting held on 14 June 2017

The draft minutes for the meeting are attached for Member information.

The Chairman confirmed that the Minutes of the Kent Board held on 14 June 2017 had been discussed at the last Board meeting and stressed that the future roles of both the Kent Board and local Boards was to be considered as part of the ongoing work of the Kent Board.

Arising from this, Board Members enquired if they would be able to contribute to this process. 

Accordingly it was agreed that a letter be forwarded to the newly appointed Chairman of the Kent HWB seeking involvement in decisions relating to the new role of both the Kent Board and  local Boards.

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.

Members may wish to update the Board on any relevant issues.

It was noted that there were no issues to report.

A presentation by Sarah Jewell, Public Health Workforce Development Manager – PHE SE – Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

The Board received a presentation on an initiative being promoted by Public Health England to train a broad spectrum of practitioners to use the conversations that they are already having with client groups to promote the wellbeing of clients by discussing lifestyle and other issues.

Sarah Jewell of Public Health England explained to the Board that significant progress had been made in the recruitment and training of practitioners from a number of backgrounds who are in contact with the public as part of their day to day activity and can identify and highlight unaddressed health issues.

Ms Jewell reported that currently Kent has some 91 trained individuals from the following 5 organisations:

•      Kent Community Health

•      Kent Fire and Rescue

•      Home Group

•      Shaw Trust

•      Porchlight.

It was noted that in addition to this some 20 trainers have been accredited in Kent and they would further add to the numbers of trained individuals in the future.

The Board welcomed the initiative, and recognised that many Council Officers could easily undertake such work.  However some concern was expressed that such work should be targeted at children and young people as focussing on adults may not achieve results which were long lasting.   Additionally it was felt that this was not really a new initiative as similar work had been undertaken before, albeit through sports clubs and similar environments.

Councillor Gough thanked Ms Jewell for her presentation and suggested that approaches direct to individual Authorities may yield opportunities for the training of front line staff.

A presentation by Mr Rob Swain (Gravesham Community Leisure) and Dr Vasudaven.

The Board received a presentation from Mr Rob Swain, the Managing Director of Gravesham Community Leisure which focussed on the evolution of the structure of service provision in his leisure centres and the impact that this change can have on the health of their clients generally and on that of type 2 diabetics specifically.

It was noted that currently the treatment for diabetes was pharmaceutical based linked with dietary alterations.  However the regimes of treatments provided by Gravesham CL seem to achieve marked improvements to patients’ condition.

Mr Swain informed the Board that while the success of the work being undertaken was compelling it was apparent that difficulties were being encountered recruiting sufficient numbers of clients to take part.

He stressed that while some uptake had been achieved through advertising  that this was limited, and that direct approaches to clients were difficult  possibly due to a lack of referrals from medical practitioners and the unwillingness of local doctors to provide patient details (due to Data Protection and Client Confidentiality concerns).

Board Members recognised the value of the work being undertaken and indeed supported the direction that this form of therapy was proposing, and also acknowledged the apparent difficulties in client recruitment. 

In this respect it was suggested that Mr Swain may achieve a wider audience by using the local free press or by approaching Local Authorities with request to place adverts in their residents’ magazines / newspapers. 

Additionally Dr Sahota suggested that Mr Swain could make a presentation to GP’s via the local Protected Learning Time scheme, and that he could approach the local co - ordinator about this.

The Chairman thanked Mr Swain for his presentation and asked that the Board receive an update on the progress of the work in around six months time.

The Board received and noted a report which set out the plan of work for forthcoming year and identified issues that required attention.

It was noted that the Chairman had requested that an update from Mr Swain on the progress in client recruitment that has been achieved, and that this should be added to the work plan.

It was reported that  while issues relating to schools and obesity were to be considered at the December meeting the current plan seemed a little “bare” and that accordingly a number of outstanding issues required scheduling for consideration. 

The Board noted that Mr Jon Horne from Sport England was to attend the October meeting,and in addition Mr Hall undertook to contact relevant Officers from KCC Sports and Physical Activity Service and the Ebbsfleet development corporation inviting them to attend the October meeting to

a)  give a brief presentation on the KCC over - arching role and what is being delivered locally; and,

b) give a brief presentation on the Ebbsfleet DC plans relating to sports and physical activity with a particular a focus on the fit-bit technology pilot.

There was no information to disseminate.