Agenda item

Report by Corporate Director of Public Health.

The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) is a statutory annual report provided to the Health and Wellbeing Board and published in full on Oxfordshire Insight. It provides an evidence base for the Health and Wellbeing Strategy and is an opportunity for an annual discussion about the key issues and trends from a review of a very wide range of health-related information about Oxfordshire.

RECOMMENDATION:

The Health and Wellbeing Board is RECOMMENDED to:

1.    Approve the content of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment for 2024 and encourage widespread use of this information in planning, developing and evaluating services across the county.

2.    Contribute information and intelligence to the JSNA Steering Group to further the development of the JSNA in future years, and to participate in making information more accessible to everyone.

3.    Note requirements and plans for publishing the update of the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment.

4. Agree to the proposed approach and plan to align PNA workplan and steering group with ICS partners. Including a PNA publication date of 1st October 2025.

The Chair invited Bethan MacDonald, Consultant in Public Health, to provide an update on the Oxfordshire Joint Needs Strategic Assessment (JSNA). The following points were raised:

-       The reports produced were focused on specific areas: inclusion health groups, mental health and wellbeing, SEND, healthy weight, gambling harms, local research and climate and health.

-       Noted the increasing levels of mental health issues in schools, which is above the national average across the UK.

-       High proportion of secondary school pupils recorded as persistent absentees.

-       Building blocks of health outlined in Health and Wellbeing Strategy takes a holistic approach in tackling mental health through financial support and building healthy homes, for example.

-       The next topic of the Director of Public Health’s Annual Report would be focused on children and young people’s mental health.

-       There was improvement in the proportion of children measured as overweight or obese in Oxfordshire, but it was still slightly above pre-pandemic levels.

-       Areas where children are more likely to be overweight or obese are areas with higher levels of inequality.

-       Proportion of adults who are overweight or obese has improved based on previous years’ data.

-       Potential opportunities for work to be done on the commercial determinants of health, such as food and gambling.

-       Proposals to align timings of Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) with other Health & Wellbeing Boards within the BOBICB.

The Chair confirmed that the Health & Wellbeing Board had agreed to move the JNSA report to a digital format. Ansaf Ahzar noted that the JSNA was in a digital platform already.

Dan Leveson noted the impact of social media on children’s mental health and felt the Director of Public Health’s Annual Report would be a good way to explore these concerns.

Ansaf Azhar noted that the ‘green’ areas on the JNSA sometimes masked poorer outcomes in the most deprived areas of Oxfordshire and highlighted the significant inequalities that still exist. It was made clear that although demonstratable results may not be seen straight away, indicators can be useful in showing progress, such as more people getting involved in schemes surrounding physical activity, for example.

Veronica Barry, Executive Director – Healthwatch Oxfordshire, stressed the need for the PNA to include more qualitative comments and to engage and listen to patients.

The Chair noted that the JNSA would be a great resource when fully digitised to allow in-depth research into specific rural areas.

Professor Sir Jonathan Montgomery raised the question about trends in loneliness statistics travelling in the wrong direction post-pandemic.

Cllr John Howson pointed out that there were underlying factors that needed to be considered if the JNSA was to be used as a headline tool to track progress.

Cllr Dr Nathan Ley noted that whilst the data looked good in areas, there was lots of work to do, such as in reducing obesity levels in areas of the county.

Michelle Brennan, GP representative, reflected that data had been gathered over a number of years, but it was now about how to use the data to inform develop integrated neighbourhood teams. David Munday welcomed this point and noted that the JNSA had to be a tool to inform actions.

RESOLVED to:

1. Approve the content of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment for 2024 and encourage widespread use of this information in planning, developing and evaluating services across the county.

2. Contribute information and intelligence to the JSNA Steering Group to further the development of the JSNA in future years, and to participate in making information more accessible to everyone.

3. Note requirements and plans for publishing the update of the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment.

4. Agree to the proposed approach and plan to align PNA workplan and steering group with ICS partners. Including a PNA publication date of 1st October 2025.