Agenda and minutes

The Chair, Councillor Rachael Blake welcomed everyone to the first meeting of the New Municipal Year, and invited all Members both old and new to introduce themselves to those present.

It was noted that apologies had been received from Councillor Cynthia Ransome, and from the Vice Chair, Dr David Crichton, Dave Richmond (SLHD), Phil Holmes (DMBC), Riana Nelson (DMBC), Kathryn Singh (RDaSH) and James Thomas (DCST).

It was moved by Councillor Nigel Ball, and seconded by Councillor Andrea Robinson, that Dr David Crichton be re-appointed as Vice Chair of the Health and Well Being Board for the 2021/22 Municipal Year.

RESOLVED that Dr David Crichton be appointed as Vice Chair of the Health and Well Being Board for 2021/22.

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

A question was received from Mr Wayne Goddard and Eileen Harrington, A question was received from Mr Wayne Goddard and Eileen Harrington, representing the Doncaster Charity DonMentia. Mr Goddard pointed out that the diagnostic rate for Dementia in Doncaster has continually fallen over the past four years from 75% to 64%. This put a huge amount of increased pressure on both the demand for services, but was also a huge detriment to the patients with dementia and their carers. Whilst Covid-19 had clearly had some effect on these diagnosis’ and the provision of care and respite, this was not entirely the case, and the Board was informed that numbers had been falling prior to March 2020.

Mr Goddard asked the Board if they were aware of these statistics and asked that they respond and what actions were being taken across the different thematic boards to address this.

The Board heard that too many patients were being missed and diagnosis given and it was felt that there was a huge gap in services with many people not getting the help and support they needed in both achieving a diagnosis and also receiving the necessary care. The DonMentia Charity had raised substantial funding to support this terrible disease, but Members heard however, that to date, none had been utilised despite countless offers of support from the Charity to other partners. The Board were in agreement that this needed to be addressed and offers of support taken up in order to help both dementia sufferers and their families and carers.

Rupert Suckling outlined along with Anthony Fitzgerald from NHS Doncaster, they were the sponsors of the Ageing Well Scheme in Doncaster and he would lead on this moving forward. A number of Members of the Board made comments with regard to the issues raised, and Jackie Pedersen offered to attend one of the DonMentia Meetings moving forward in order that a greater understanding was developed and all avenues explored for collaborative working in the future.

The Board heard that funding had been raised and offered to support Dementia Services but had not been utilised and looking into the future everyone was in agreement that partnership working needed to be improved and that this needed to be revisited.

Members noted that further information on the work of DonMentia could be found at DonMentia – Dementia Charity in Doncaster or by contacting Eileen Harrington on eileen@donmentia.org.

AGREED that:

1)    moving forward Dr Suckling would lead on the issues raised and bring an update to the Committee at a future meeting;

2)    Cath Witherington to raise awareness by publicising the work of DonMentia in the Voluntary Action Doncaster Newsletter;

3)    Jackie Pedersen to attend a future meeting of DonMentia in order to develop partnership working.

There were no declarations made at the meeting.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Health and Well Being Board held on 11 March, 2021, be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Dr Rupert Suckling provided an update to the Board as to what was the current situation regarding Covid-19 both in Doncaster and nationally.

Members heard that since the last meeting in March, the picture across the Country had changed and things had slowly started improving with various stages of the road map achieved. There was however, a concern in terms of a new variant that had emerged that was pushing the rates up across the country. However, yet this wasn’t impacting on the hospital admissions which was hopeful. It did however mean that there could be some delay to the final stage of the road map if this continued to cause concern.

The Board noted that vaccinations were still being delivered well across the Borough and as many first doses as possible were being given and as many cases as possible were being identified across the Borough so that track and trace was undertaken efficiently and successfully.

One point that was raised that was becoming an increasing problem was the diagnostic backlog. Delays had been caused as a direct result of the Covid Pandemic, due to the reduced capacity in hospitals, and had caused long waiting lists for all services. In relation to this, there was a particular impact on mental health, particularly on child and adolescent mental health, and across Doncaster, they were struggling to match the demand for these services.

All services were busy with everyone working hard to maintain their offer, with Accident and Emergency recently busier than ever recorded. GP Surgeries were working to normal capacity, and the hospital had recently lost part of the Children’s Hospital due to a leak within the building. It was essential that services were managed and a surge in the need for critical care was avoided where possible. In the course of this discussion, Members felt there was still the need for available information to be circulated as many of the public were unaware of what services they could and could not use. In relation this, Members requested that a short paragraph of information be provided to Elected members to advise them what to say to their constituents in terms of access to medical services and what was accessible, as well as reiterating the need to have the vaccine if they had not already done so.

There were some discussions regarding access to care in Doncaster and the problems that arose both pre covid and post covid, and there was agreement that this had highlighted gaps that needed addressing and a dialogue was needed across the different partnerships to make the health services function better. It was important that all sectors were involved in this in order to get a clear understanding of what was needed to take these improvements forward.

RESOLVED that:

1)    Jackie Pedersen provide a short paragraph to Members as detailed above; and

2)    The update on the Direct Impacts of Covid-19, be noted

Allan Wiltshire updated the Board with regard to the Borough Strategy – which would be known as Well Being Doncaster 2030. This would set out the 10-year vision for Doncaster with thriving placed at the heart of it and it would work towards achieving its pledges by 2030.

The timing of the new Borough Strategy was pivotal as the borough emerged from the pandemic and would look on focussing on inequalities, some of which had worsened as a result of Covid-19, and would focus on the Health and Compassionate Well Being Goal.

The Framework outlined Doncaster’s six emerging well-being goals which are detailed as follows and aimed to contribute to one mission, Thriving People, Places and Planet:-

·         Greener and Cleaner

·         Prosperous and Connected

·         Safe and Resilient

·         Healthy and Compassionate

·         Skilled and Creative

·         Fair and Inclusive

The Board discussed the issues presented to them at some length, and it was felt that looking at this alongside the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and the Integrated Care Systems (ICS) would ensure a real connection and flow between these three strategies and would all link closely together to ensure responsibilities were shared. There were many different streams that could feed into this, and Members agreed that it would be beneficial for all partners to be involved and for meaningful engagement to take place.

An update was also given on the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, which would be refreshed in 2021. This would include six work strands that would link into local collaborations to meet the needs and inequalities in the Borough.

Members noted that much of the content included within the 2018 JSNA was still relative, but needed to be looked at in a different context, and therefore the refresh would enable things to be seen in a different context, particularly in light of the impact of Covid-19 on the residents of Doncaster. The JSNA was a multiagency and partnership endeavour, and would require a lot of stakeholder engagement with a large degree of collaborative working to ensure it was beneficial.

Members discussed the issues, and it was noted that it would be important to understand the impact of localities and what impact demographics, deprivation, housing, school and employment had on health and it was acknowledged that information from the Census carried out in March 2021 would contribute and feed into this.  

RESOLVED that:-

1)    the Health and Well Being Board note the update with regard to the emerging Borough Strategy, with discussions to take place with Rupert Suckling and Anthony Fitzgerald regarding the ICS and its links to the Borough Strategy and the JSNA; and

2)    the Health and Well Being Board endorse the new approach outlined within the report, which would be incorporated within the refreshed JSNA.

The Health and Well Being Board received a presentation rom Lucy Robertshaw, DARTS, that detailed the work undertaken by the organisation during the pandemic in order to keep people connected.

A great deal of work had been undertaken by DARTS throughout the pandemic with a lot of positive feedback and outcomes. It was noted that the Arts were hugely beneficial in keeping healthy, both physically and mentally and even more so over the past year.

As face-to-face contact had ceased during the pandemic, new ways of staying connected had been explored and as around 55% of people did not have internet access at home, these had often needed to be innovative and original. Some of the following initiatives had been used in order to ensure that social isolation was minimised as much as possible:-

·         Doodle packs delivered to residents with doorstep conversations held – for many people during the pandemic, this was the highlight of their week;

·         Music packs with challenges to be completed;

·         Create a Plate – where people designed their own plates and sent them back;

·         Letters and Phone calls

·         Garden Gigs – once this was allowed, musicians visited residents and played a gig in their garden;

·         Physical Activity was also encouraged with ‘Dance On’

·         For Children, 1428 activity packs were delivered in order to provide them activities to do.

The Board noted that there were many positive initiatives undertaken, and a new of working had been projected forward in order to try to reduce anxiety, loneliness and isolation where possible. Members commended the work carried out in order to address these issues and support both vulnerable children and vulnerable adults through a very difficult time.

            RESOLVED that the presentation on Arts and Health be noted.

A presentation was received by the Board from Carrie Wardle, which proposed a new approach to tackling weight issues and looked at it with a more holistic and compassionate approach, encompassing well-being and health.

Weight, had always been an extremely complex issue, and many determinants could often affect this with no diet guaranteeing a long-term positive outcome. This had led to a new approach where the blame was taken away, and restrictive eating and strict diets were encouraged to be a thing of the past. Obesity was often a result of social, economic and environmental factors, but moving forward, it was envisaged that a more compassionate approach would have a far more beneficial approach on someone’s health. Additionally, holistically, it would provide greater benefits to all aspects of a person’s health.

Self-love and Self-loathing were a huge part of a person’s outlook in terms of weight gain and loss and the blame and guilt that came alongside this was not positive. With this in mind, it was felt that a gentler approach, focussing on respect, acceptance and compassion was more positive and could improve a person’s health in many ways, and not just on the scales. This focussed on preventing the development of harmful behaviours and improved physical and mental health by instilling a sense of value.

The Board commended this initiative and felt that would be very beneficial as the focus on improving mental well-being was tantamount to success in this area.  It was a much more holistic approach that would benefit all of society providing health and well-being benefits for all.

RESOLVED that the Health and Well Being Board endorse the new approach to weight in Doncaster.

Cath Witherington, Chief Executive, Voluntary Action Doncaster provided a presentation to the Board which provided an update on the activities undertaken in working to support the health and well-being outcomes of the people in Doncaster.

Over the past year during the course of the Covid-19 Pandemic, a lot of good work had been undertaken, with engagement undertaken in a meaningful and positive way. The volunteers at Voluntary Action Doncaster were a small team of people but worked well to engage with residents across the Borough and reach those who were isolated and vulnerable.

One of the main areas in which they had been involved the Board noted, was the help given to the roll out of the vaccination programme. Volunteers had played a huge part in assisting staff at vaccination centres and Covid Test Centres with marshalling duties, and it was fair to say, the Health and Well Being Board acknowledged that their help had been crucial in ensuring these ran well.

Their role, the Board noted was growing, and demand for their support had increased considerably over time with help given from cradle to grave and there was now the awareness that they needed to develop more, and ensure their staff and volunteers were well-trained, developed and engaged in order to meet the needs across society as a whole. A lot of work was being done, and there was the ambition that the partnership would grow more and more in order to benefit the vulnerable in society wherever and whenever needed.

RESOLVED that the Health and Well Being Board note the progress made to date.

Vanessa Powell-Hoyland, Well North Manager, (DMBC), presented a short video to the Board which highlighted the community centred work undertaken in the different localities across the Borough  and outlined how this linked to a number of other initiatives including Get Doncaster Moving, Community Wealth Builder, and Be Well Doncaster. It was suggested that this would improve health and well-being as well as reducing health inequalities across Doncaster.

It was hoped that this approach would bring a lot of sectors together in order to allow a building block that all aspects of health would benefit from and would link all different communities together with one approach. The board felt the approach was extremely intuitive and insightful and would work well alongside the localities model to bring about improvements.

RESOLVED that the report be noted and members of the Board expressed interest in becoming more involved as the project developed.