The Health and Wellbeing Board is RECOMMENDED to NOTE the Neighbourhood Health Plan Update.
Minutes:
Michelle Brennan (Oxfordshire GP representative) presented the Oxfordshire Neighbourhood Health Plan update. Neighbourhood health formed a central component of the wider transformation taking place across the health and care system. The overarching ambition was to move from a predominantly reactive model focused on responding to ill health towards a more preventative, proactive and community-oriented approach that addressed the needs of local populations at a neighbourhood level.
The Board heard that significant progress had been made in defining neighbourhood footprints across Oxfordshire and in identifying the local partnerships that would support neighbourhood working. Members were advised that these footprints had been developed through collaboration between local authorities, primary care, NHS providers, voluntary and community organisations and other partners. The intention was to establish neighbourhoods which reflected local communities and population needs whilst remaining of a scale that would support meaningful collaboration and service integration.
The Thames Valley Integrated Care Board’s (ICB) Associate Director of Oxfordshire Place outlined the broader national context within which the work was being undertaken. Neighbourhood health had become an increasingly significant feature of national health policy, with growing recognition that many of the challenges facing health and care systems could not be addressed solely through acute hospital services. Greater emphasis was now being placed upon prevention, population health management, integration and community resilience.
Members were informed that recent engagement with national programme representatives had provided positive feedback regarding Oxfordshire's progress in developing neighbourhood arrangements. Particular recognition had been given to the work undertaken to define neighbourhood geographies and to connect neighbourhood development with other major programmes focused on prevention, reducing inequalities and addressing the wider determinants of health. It was acknowledged, however, that significant work remained to translate strategic ambitions into operational delivery.
Ansaf Azhar highlighted the strong relationship between neighbourhood health and Oxfordshire's wider Marmot Place ambitions. neighbourhoods offered an important mechanism through which partners could better understand local populations and address inequalities in a more targeted way. By bringing together intelligence, community insight and local relationships, neighbourhood approaches could support more effective identification of need and enable services to intervene earlier before problems became more complex and costly.
The discussion focused on the development of Integrated Neighbourhood Teams, which were described as a key delivery mechanism within the emerging model. These teams would bring together professionals from across health, social care, primary care, community services, mental health services and the voluntary and community sector to work collaboratively around the needs of local populations. The objective would be to reduce fragmentation between services, improve coordination of support and facilitate earlier intervention.
The discussion also considered the importance of ensuring that neighbourhood health arrangements reflected the diversity of Oxfordshire's communities. Members noted that urban and rural areas faced different challenges and that neighbourhood approaches would need sufficient flexibility to respond to differing local circumstances. Particular reference was made to the importance of maintaining strong links with community organisations and ensuring that neighbourhood arrangements were informed by local knowledge and lived experience rather than solely by organisational priorities.
It was also emphasised that children, young people and families should be fully integrated into neighbourhood arrangements. Neighbourhood working often focused on adult health and social care services, and there was a need for a whole-family approach that recognised the interconnected nature of children's services, education, public health and wider family support. Neighbourhood structures could provide important opportunities for earlier intervention and improved outcomes for children and young people if designed appropriately.
The Board RESOLVED to:
1.
NOTE the progress made in embedding
the Marmot approach, using the 8 Marmot principles as a framework for
understanding inequalities, and strengthening system-wide action on health
inequalities in Oxfordshire.
2.
NOTE the next phase of delivery,
focused on converting insight and deep-dive recommendations into agreed
actions, clear ownership and measurable outcomes.
3.
AGREE that Marmot-related equity
measures should be embedded within the refreshed Health and Wellbeing Strategy
outcomes framework to strengthen oversight and accountability.