Agenda and minutes

Apologies for the meeting were received from Richard Parker (Anthony Jones deputised), Kathryn Singh, Jackie Pederson, Riana Nelson (Lee Golze deputised), and Cath Witherington.

The Chair welcomed Fran Joel, Chief Operating Officer of Healthwatch Doncaster, to the meeting.

The Chair stated that in light of the fact that the Board would be talking about health and wellbeing today, it was important to reflect on current world events.  In particular, she explained that the Doncaster Ukraine Centre had featured on the regional news last night and, on behalf of the Board, she stated that everyone’s thoughts and support were with the Ukraine community in Doncaster at the present time.  The Chair was aware that there were various opportunities and ways in which people could show their support and contribute, including a GoFundMe page being run by Voluntary Action Doncaster and she encouraged everyone to provide support where they could.  The Chair added that there was also support and help available to anyone who was struggling with everything that was going on.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the Chair stated that she was delighted to announce that Dr David Crichton had been appointed as Chief Medical Officer for the South Yorkshire Integrated Care System.  On behalf of the Board, the Chair stated that she wished to say a huge thank you to David for all his work and support, both in terms of serving as a Board member, including holding the position of Vice-Chair of the for the past 5 years, and also his work behind the scenes, and she wished him well for the future.  In thanking the Chair and Board for their kind words, David explained that he was delighted to be taking up his new role and he acknowledged the help he had received from people around the room that had assisted him on his journey.  He added that it had been a privilege to have been part of the Doncaster Health and Wellbeing Board.

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

There were no questions received from the public.

There were no declarations made at the meeting.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board held on 13^th January 2022, be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Dr Rupert Suckling gave an update to the Health and Well Being Board with regard to the present situation in the Borough regarding Covid-19 and its impact on the borough, health provisions and the local communities and what was being done moving forward.  The update included data on current case rates compared to those at the Board’s last meeting in January 2022.

Dr Suckling explained that since the Board’s last meeting, there had been a reduction in the number of cases of the Omicron variant and in the numbers of people requiring hospital care.  This had led to the Government introducing its ‘Living with Covid’ plan in February and the lifting of legal requirements in relation to self-isolation and all other restrictions being lifted.  Dr Suckling stressed, however, that Public Health guidance was still advising people with symptoms to self-isolate and get tested, and also recommending that face coverings were worn in enclosed public spaces, and this was still a requirement in health care settings.

It was noted that other changes included the cessation of contact tracing and an increased emphasis on ventilation and vaccinations.  Dr Suckling confirmed that in the past week, there had been a slight increase in the number of cases being reported, which was partly due to the fact that people were now circulating more.  It was, however, expected that cases would reduce as the weather warmed up over the coming months.  He concluded by stating that while Covid-19 had not gone away, the situation was nevertheless manageable, thanks to the effectiveness of the vaccines in breaking the link between people catching the virus and requiring hospitalisation.

Dr David Crichton also provided a brief update on the current position in relation to the roll out of the vaccination programme across the Borough, and future plans in relation to the provision of booster doses of the vaccine.  He confirmed that all children aged 5 to 11 would be offered a vaccine from 1 April.  In addition, those people aged 75 and over, those who were immuno-compromised and those living in adult care homes would be given an additional booster jab in the Spring.  Looking further ahead, Dr Crichton reported that it was expected that there would also be a booster campaign in the Autumn.

            RESOLVED that the update be noted.

The Health and Well Being Board considered the 2021 Director of Public Health Annual Report. The report, which was the seventh Annual Report authored by Dr Suckling, described the course of the global COVID-19 pandemic in Doncaster in 2021 and included a rapid assessment of the state of health in Doncaster in 2021.  The report also demonstrated how the public health grant was being used locally, and highlighted the proposals for implementing the new borough strategy ‘Doncaster Delivering Together’.

The report made the following six recommendations for Team Doncaster and partners:-

•     Continue to recognise, celebrate and support the roles of ‘Key workers’, local people, groups, institutions, businesses and communities in the way Doncaster works

•     Maintain sufficient local capacity and capability to respond to and learn from the continued COVID-19 pandemic

•     Implement Doncaster Delivering Together, including updating and publishing a set of Impact Assessments to continue to guide and shape local recovery and renewal

•     Secure long term locality working including asset based, community centred approaches to improve health and wellbeing working with and for communities, in the present and for future generations

•     Revitalise approaches to health inequalities, poverty and social exclusion taking into account the new Geneva Charter for Wellbeing and establish a Fairness & Wellbeing Commission

•     Develop new relationships with the Office of Health Improvement and the UK Health Security Agency, the successor bodies to Public Health England and establish a new method for assurance of local public health services

The Report had been considered & approved by Full Council at its meeting in January and was presented to the Board in order that Members could consider how the recommendations could be taken forward in future strategy and delivery plans.

Discussion followed, during which the Board commented on various aspects of the Report that related to their areas and how moving forward they could put the recommendations into practice, including the following:-

• Dr David Crichton highlighted the significant changes that would arise from the Health and Care Bill currently going through Parliament.  He also spoke of the positive lessons learned from the pandemic, and outlined the measures being taken to improve patient access to health care services, including GPs.

• Councillor Nigel Ball highlighted the reference in the Report to the World Health Organisation’s Geneva Charter for Wellbeing, and stated that this raised the question of how the health, wellbeing and happiness of Doncaster communities could be effectively measured by way of indicators.  In reply, Dr Suckling explained that there were two main drivers in this regard.  Firstly, through HM Treasury and how it accounted for new infrastructure projects, he explained that the Green Book was changing and moving from solely economic outputs to also include social outputs.  Secondly, he explained that at a South Yorkshire level, a six capitals approach was increasingly being used, which was concerned with measuring social capital and tracking investment in places.  He stressed, however, that this work was at an early stage of development.

• Phil Holmes explained that work was being  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

The Board received a presentation by Emma Price (DCCG) and Martyn Owen (DMBC) on the Doncaster Children & Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2022-25.

Emma and Martyn began by outlining the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic had had on children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing and on the service provision in supporting their needs.  They then summarised the cross-partner working undertaken since 2020 to understand the patterns of presentations emerging at A&E involving young people and working with schools and other agencies to identify any gaps in the support and services available.  The Doncaster Young Advisors had also taken a lead part in this work, producing a Vision and Ambition statement formulated from extensive Young Advisor led survey exercises.  This formed a fundamental part of the overarching strategy and underpinned all of the priorities and actions.

The Board was then informed of each of the Strategy priorities in turn, which comprised:-

1. Improve access to Doncaster services;
2. Address systemic inequalities;
3. Raise capacity and capability within mainstream schools; and
4. Reduce waiting times for neurological pathways.

It was noted that it was intended to develop an implementation plan setting out the intended actions over the three years of the Strategy.  The plan would be designed to identify key actions and provide clear timelines alongside measurable success criteria.

Emma concluded by outlining how the Strategy would be taken forward in years 2 and 3, and the measures that would be put in place in order to test and challenge the progress achieved against the priorities.

Arising from discussion on the need to look at ways of building resilience in young people, Emma Price offered to provide a briefing to a future meeting of the Board on the subject of future resilience and the work being undertaken to support this.  She cited as an example the recent launch in Doncaster of the Kooth digital mental health support service for young people and young adults which included free access to a range of resilience tools.

In response to a question as to whether there was any correlation between those areas of the Borough with high levels of deprivation and the levels of need in relation to young people’s mental health and whether this had been mapped out, Emma Price explained that the Kooth system had been set to map out the Borough, including the Wards, which would give a clearer picture in 6 - 12 months’ time of any correlation between deprivation and young people’s needs in respect of mental health.  It was also reported that the data from A&E presentations was being used to identify hotspot areas, and this in turn was used to prioritise resources and ensure that schools in those areas were given the necessary support to help deal with cases.

After the Board had acknowledged the importance of joined up working across the various Strategies, including the Early Help Strategy, and discussed the vital role that Early Help would have in terms of building future resilience and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

The Board received a presentation by Vicki Beere, CEO of Project 6, which outlined the work of the Project 6 organisation and gave details of the ‘Third Place’ proposal for Doncaster, which was a new way of supporting street drinkers in the Borough.

Vicki began by giving an overview of the work of Project 6 and its background history as a charitable organisation.  She then summarised the current delivery offered by Project 6, which included:-

• Developing Project 6’s community@Sober Social;
• Developing crisis services; and
• Older People’s Alcohol Service

The organisation’s plans for development included the launch of the Third Place proposal for Doncaster, which was a harm reduction approach for street drinkers, and developing the Crisis Service – Doncaster Pathways, into a Borough-wide offer through a Voluntary, Communities and Social Enterprise collaboration with the health and social care forum.

The Board was informed that, following a successful pilot in Keighley, the Third Place was aimed at providing opportunities to tackle the cycle of multiple and complex needs by providing a safe environment for street drinkers and others affected by homelessness, rootlessness and destitution who often had no access to their own first or second space.  The service would offer opportunities and choices for individuals to create meaningful and sustainable change in their wellbeing through reducing harm and improving health outcomes, in a safe environment where individuals could receive the support they needed.  Vicki confirmed that Project 6 had the support of the various substance use forums to develop the Third Place offer, and she stated that she was seeking the Board’s support in principle for the proposal today.

During subsequent discussion, Dr Rupert Suckling commented that the compassionate approach of the proposed Third Place project was entirely in keeping with the discussions that this Board had been having with regard to supporting individuals.  On the question of resourcing this project, Dr Suckling explained that it was hoped that funding would be forthcoming as a result of the new Drugs Strategy that was launched in December and that some of this could be made available to support the Third Place initiative.  He added that it would be useful to give further thought in the future as to how the work of Project 6 fitted in with the broader network of other charities and organisations providing support in relation to substance use.

In supporting the project, Phil Holmes felt that there was always scope for providing more help for individuals affected by drug and alcohol issues and he felt it was timely to be looking at expanding this work in Doncaster.  He added that it would be useful to draw together the different strands of activity taking place across the Borough in this regard and stressed the value of providing support to individuals which addressed the root causes while treating them with dignity.  He also stated that the Council would be happy to help Project 6 make connections with some of the other work currently being carried out in the different  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51.

The Board received a presentation by Phil Holmes entitled ‘Local Solutions for People, Places and Planet – Doncaster’s Locality Plans’.  Phil gave an overview of the development of the Locality Plans in the Borough (North, South, Central and East), which were due to be completed at the end of March.  It was noted that these Plans had the potential to relate strongly to NHS delivery in neighbourhoods as well as wider wellbeing partnerships.  The presentation described the approach and drew out some health and wellbeing themes.  It was explained that the aim was for the Locality Plan to be the place that tied information together accessibly, as it was acknowledged that there were many other plans and these needed to be better coordinated locally.

Dr Rupert Suckling gave an update to the Board on the proposed usage of non-recurrent Better Care Fund monies to invest in preventative working in each of Doncaster’s localities.

After a general discussion on the localities approach and how this would be taken forward in the future, it was

RESOLVED:

1.           To note the key Health and Wellbeing messages that have arisen from discussion with local people in the development of Locality Plans; and

2.           To note the update on usage of non-recurrent Better Care Fund monies to invest in preventative working in each of Doncaster’s localities/neighbourhoods.

The Board received a presentation by Susan Hampshaw which provided an update on the development of a Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) in Doncaster.

It was reported that Doncaster Council had submitted an Expression of Interest to the National Institute for Health Research Public Health Research Programme to host a HDRC, and had now been invited alongside several other places to submit a Stage 2 application.  The presentation described the proposed collaboration as it stood, and focussed, in particular, on how becoming a more research active place would accelerate progress in Doncaster to improve health and wellbeing and tackle inequalities.

The Board was informed that the key considerations underpinning the bid were:-

• Sharing learning;
• Sustainable collaboration;
• Addressing capacity challenges;
• Being fair and balanced; and
• Addressing wider determinants

The two proposed work streams were:-

1. Knowledge mobilisation; and
2. Capability, capacity and motivation building

Susan concluded by stating that, with regard to the governance structure, if successful the project would report to this Board, and in terms of the timeline, the Council would be pitching its vision in June, with a decision around July and a start date at around October 2022.

In supporting this project, Dr David Crichton advised that he had been asked to lead an innovation and research programme across South Yorkshire, so if this bid was unsuccessful, there would still be other opportunities to pursue research.

Dr Rupert Suckling felt that even if the bid for this project was ultimately unsuccessful, there would still be elements of the work that could be taken forward and utilised in the future. 

After the Chair had thanked Susan and her team on behalf of the Board for all their hard work in pulling together the bid for this project, and had confirmed the Board’s support for this work, it was

            RESOLVED to note the presentation and endorse the outlined approach.

This report was received and noted.

This report was received and noted.