Agenda item

Public Health

10.15

 

The Director of Public Health will provide the committee with his regular report on matters of relevance and interest to the committee, including an update on the Health and Well-being Board.

Minutes:

Dr Jonathan McWilliam presented details of the Health and Well-being Board and its supporting boards. Through the presentation and the ensuing discussion the following points were noted;

 

  • There is a requirement that a shadow board was set up in December 2011 which will become live in April 2013.
  • District representatives were nominated by the Leaders group and is handled on a rotating basis.
  • Thames Valley Police are involved in the Community Safety Partnership and the Chief Fire Officer who chairs the community safety officer group sits on the Health Improvement Board to provide the link between these agendas.
  • The requirement to manage and fund the board rests with the county council. The running costs of the supporting boards are met from existing resources.
  • Commissioning support services for the Clinical Commissioning Group are being worked out and will likely be on a regional level. The CCG will have the funding to commission this so it should reflect our needs.
  • Most people involved in commissioning services (including in public health) have a clinical background.
  • There is scope to do more to pool budgets which are currently more aligned than truly pooled.
  • The Health and Well-being board will consult on the strategy which will include scrutiny in late spring
  • There will be NHS, social care and public health targets which will be based on local priorities.
  • The Health and Well-being board will take the strategic overview with the supporting boards/ partner organisations responsible for commissioning of services.
  • Improvement in outcomes is critical, local priorities will be set and reported on publicly.
  • The ambulance service and other service providers cannot be members of the boards but are involved in the workshops which will be used to focus on detailed issues.
  • HOSC members and other councillors should be invited to participate in workshops.
  • Prevention will be key to the local authority role but there is always a tension with length of time for the return on investment.
  • Scrutiny will continue to have an important role in scrutinising the new arrangements 

 

Jonathan McWilliam and Angela Baker undertook to update the committee on matters arising at the last meeting,

 

  • Teenage conceptions – rates of teenage conceptions reduced in 2010 to 22 per 1000. The wards with highest rates are Grimsbury and Castle (Banbury), Northfield Brook, St Mary’s, Iffley Fields, Blackbird Leys (Oxford). Other areas of concern include parts of Witney, Didcot, Bicester. The need to reduce rates more in these areas was noted.
  • Healthchecks for people with learning disabilities – this is an NHS Cluster responsibility. Approximately 2000 are eligble for annual healthchecks and 40% took these up last year although it is not known how many were offered.
  • Tuberculosis and immigration – at airports the need for port of entry healthchecks are identified. It is not easy to be sure exactly whether all those identified can be followed up for screenings once they move on to their destination. In September 2011 561 people were offered screenings of which 138 were done. One case of latent TB was identified. The increased virulence of the disease and the impact of global travel and immigration was registered as a barrier. Jonathan McWilliam undertook to provide the committee more information about the issue on a national level.