Agenda and minutes

Venue: 007a and b, Civic Office, Waterdale, Doncaster DN1 3BU. View directions

Contact: Jonathan Goodrum, Senior Governance Officer  Email: jonathan.goodrum@doncaster.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

44.

Welcome, introductions and apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Dr David Crichton, Richard Parker, Kathryn Singh, Dr Rupert Suckling and Peter Dale.

 

45.

Chair's Announcements.

Minutes:

There were no announcements made by the Chair.

46.

Public questions.

(A period not exceeding 15 minutes for questions from members of the public.)

 

Minutes:

There were no public questions asked at the meeting.

 

47.

Declarations of Interest, if any.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

 

48.

Minutes of the Meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board held on 16th January 2020. (Attached) pdf icon PDF 221 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 16th January, 2020 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

 

49.

Report from Health and Wellbeing Board Steering Group and Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 190 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Board considered a report, which provided an update on the work of the HWB Steering Group to deliver the Board’s work programme and, also provided a draft Forward Plan for future Board meetings, as set out in Appendix A to the report.

 

In particular, the report included updates for the Board on:

 

·       Flooding;

·       Coronavirus (COVID-19);

·       Board Effectiveness;

·       ‘Shaping Places for Healthier Lives’ programme – Expression of Interest;

·       Minutes of South Yorkshire & Bassetlaw Shadow Integrated Care System Collaborative Partnership Board held on 11 October 2019; and

·       Forward Plan for the Board.

 

Flooding

 

In presenting the report, Louise Robson confirmed, with regard to the flooding, that Team Doncaster partners were now moving into the recovery phase to support the affected local communities.  Phil Holmes and Riana Nelson reported that this had been a particularly traumatic period for the residents and that, as a result, there were increased cases of people presenting with low-level emotional health needs.  Partners were working together to support these residents with measures including pulling together trauma plans and providing pastoral care.

 

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

 

The Board discussed the local resilience and business continuity planning that was underway, through the local pandemic tactical coordinating group, in response to Coronavirus (COVID-19). 

 

Paul Tanney highlighted the need for clear and consistent guidance to staff whose jobs involved visiting residents/tenants’ homes, as there had already been some instances where staff had made visits to people who were ‘self-isolating’.  In response, Phil Holmes undertook to pick up this issue through the health cell of the tactical group, and Louise Robson stated that she would also raise this with Dr Rupert Suckling.

 

The Board recognised the need to support the Borough’s local voluntary, community and faith (VCF) organisations as they were likely to be placed under pressure from increased frontline demands during this time.  Lucy Robertshaw advised, with regard to communications, that Heather Boyce, Chief Executive of Age UK, would be able to assist by sending information out to VCF organisations via the Health and Social Care Forum mailing list.

 

Board Effectiveness

              

The Board noted the outcome of the Board’s second development session held in December 2019 and how these proposals would be taken forward in the development of the next Borough Strategy and an updated Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

 

After the Board had noted, in relation to the Forward Plan, that the Workshop scheduled for 2 April had now been cancelled, it was

 

RESOLVED:

 

(1)          that the update from the HWB Steering Group be received and noted;

 

(2)          that the proposed Forward Plan, as detailed in Appendix A to the report, be agreed, subject to noting the cancellation of the Board workshop on 2 April 2020.

 

50.

Arts and Health Update pdf icon PDF 98 KB

Minutes:

The Board received a further verbal update by Lucy Robertshaw on the various Arts and Health initiatives being undertaken in Doncaster and Board Members were asked to consider how their respective organisations could contribute and support the further development of this work moving forward.  It was noted that the primary aim of this work was to encourage participation in creative activity so that Doncaster residents would be healthier, happier and more resilient, and the positive effects would reach into the surrounding communities.

 

Lucy also outlined the findings from a recent World Health Organisation (WHO) report which looked at evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and wellbeing in the WHO European Region.  This report had explored findings from 3500 studies on arts and health which showed that arts interventions increased all types of individual and social wellbeing.  It also demonstrated that arts activities lowered biological stress markers and could build self-esteem, self-acceptance, confidence and self-worth.  In the context of social isolation, the report stated that ‘…there is evidence of how the arts (especially music) enhances social bonding, offers a shared sense of success, physical coordination, shared attention, shared motivation and identity’.

 

The Board noted that the Arts and Health work being carried out in Doncaster had generated national interest.  The ‘Dance On’ sessions held across the Borough had been the subject of a study by Dr Laura Britten of Leeds University, researching the effects of dance based interventions on the physical and psychological wellbeing of older adults, the results of which would be reported back to a future meeting of this Board.

 

Lucy also pointed out to the Board that the service did have some capacity at the current time to assist health partners with any services or projects that might benefit from creative activities, if they wished to contact her outside the meeting.

 

During subsequent discussion, it was suggested that it would be useful for Doncaster Community Arts to connect with Laura Sherburn, which would help them to develop a broader engagement with Primary Care in Doncaster.

 

After the Board had discussed the barriers faced by the voluntary and community sector as regards signposting to funding, and also the role that the Doncaster Provider Alliance could play in helping to connect the voluntary and community sector with providers, it was

 

         RESOLVED to note the update on the current Arts and Health work in the Borough.

 

51.

Update on Doncaster Social Isolation and Loneliness Alliance pdf icon PDF 192 KB

Minutes:

The Board received a presentation by Jon Whitely, Deputy CEO of Doncaster Culture and Leisure Trust, which provided an update on Doncaster’s Social Isolation Alliance.

 

During discussion, the Board acknowledged that people had different perceptions of what constituted ‘loneliness’, and a key question going forward was how to physically measure the aspiration for Doncaster to be ‘the least lonely place’.  The Chair felt that the important point was in ensuring that people were given the connections they actually wanted in order to help alleviate their loneliness, and this varied according to the individual concerned.

 

Board Members then commented on a range of issues in relation to social isolation and loneliness and the work of the Alliance, including:-

 

  • The need for a ‘bottom up approach’, and the importance of communities being given the opportunity to choose what was right for them in terms of services provided;
  • Councillor Nuala Fennelly suggested that an important question for Board Members to consider was whether they felt that the organisations represented around the table all felt connected in terms of knowing what each was doing for loneliness and isolation;
  • It was suggested that there was scope for greater utilisation of the Your Life Doncaster website as an information hub for signposting people to the various local voluntary and community groups and providing information on the micro grants programme.  In noting that this website was currently being re-designed, the Chair requested that officers make enquiries as to the current status of the redesign work.

 

RESOLVED to support the work of the Alliance in reducing loneliness and social isolation within the Borough and signposting to opportunities that will build capacity and sustain provision.

 

52.

Director of Public Health Annual Report 2019 pdf icon PDF 205 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

In Dr Rupert Suckling’s absence, Councillor Nigel Ball, Cabinet Member for Public Health, presented to the Board the Director of Public Health Annual Report for 2019, which had been previously endorsed by Doncaster Council at its meeting in March 2020.

 

It was noted that the 2019 Doncaster Director of Public Health Annual Report was the fifth authored by Dr Rupert Suckling.  In an increasingly digital world, this year the delivery of the main report was as an online document which was accessible at

https://www.doncaster.gov.uk/services/health-wellbeing/about-public-health

 

 

Councillor Ball drew particular attention to some of the key issues highlighted in the Annual Report, including life expectancy figures in Doncaster and how these compared with the national rate.  He also outlined the measures being taken in relation to tobacco control, as the Report included a call to action on tobacco control.  It was reported that tobacco was still the leading cause of preventable ill health and premature deaths in the Borough. Despite high quality specialised smoking cessation services in Doncaster, as many people were starting to smoke each year as quit resulting in no overall reduction in smoking numbers.

 

After some brief discussion, during which Counciillor Ball answered questions regarding the public health grant, it was

 

RESOLVED to note the contents of the report and consider how the recommendations can be taken forward in future strategy and delivery plans.