Agenda item

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

Mr Doug Wright referred to the Health and Social Care Joint Commissioning Management Board (JCMB) and asked why the meetings of this body were not held in public.  He felt that from an accountability perspective, and given the important issues being considered by the Board, such as the challenge of meeting the South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Integrated Care System efficiency target of £120.9m, that members of the public should be allowed into these meetings to observe the proceedings and ask questions.  Mr Wright acknowledged that the minutes of the JCMB meetings were now being submitted to the Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) for information, but felt that this did not enable the public to ask timely questions, given that the JCMB minutes could be several months old by the time that they were included on each HWB agenda.

In reply, Dr Rupert Suckling and Damian Allen explained that this issue had been discussed by the JCMB and it had been agreed to continue to hold the meetings in private, but that the minutes would be received by the HWB to provide transparency and give the public an opportunity to ask questions in this forum.  Jackie Pederson added that the JCMB minutes were also submitted to the Doncaster Clinical Commissioning Group’s Governing Body meetings, which provided a further opportunity for questions to be asked on the delivery side. 

Councillor Nigel Ball felt that a valid point had been made with regard to the timeliness of receiving the JCMB minutes and expressed the view that it would be useful if members of the public were permitted to observe the proceedings at the JCMB meetings at some point in the future.  The Chair then thanked Mr Wright for his question and confirmed that the position regarding public access to the JCMB meetings would be reviewed in 6 months’ time.

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Mr Tim Brown addressed the Board as follows:-

“Thank you Chair for giving me the opportunity to speak and express my concerns in front of such a powerful and distinguished audience.

I can confirm that I have read the 3 main reports today:  Joint Strategic Needs Assessment; Tobacco Control; and Doncaster Health and Social Care Commissioning Strategy.

I must say that I am alarmed and distressed by the absence of any narrative regarding health inequalities between ethnic groups and the major differences in health behaviours and outcomes between them.

One example, Chair, is smoking which is a key driver of poor health and premature mortality. 

Smoking by ethnic group and sex in England, 2015 - source: PHE analysis of data from the Annual Population Survey shows considerable inequality: 25% of men in the ‘Mixed’ ethnic group smoke, while only 3% of Asian women smoke.

To strengthen the fantastic Public Health Team Tobacco Control work is there an opportunity to explore whether there is a prevalence of smoking amongst different BME groups in Doncaster and to target some interventions?

Chair, as an ordinary black parent, I am struggling to understand how the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment is linked to the BME Health Needs Assessment. 

It is the case in Doncaster that BME citizens are under represented in the workforces of so many of the organisations represented here today. 

Can the organisations represented here today consider implementing the evidence base from NHS Workforce Race Equality standard and Professor Williams of Harvard University regarding transforming workforce equality?

The key themes from this work are:

Leadership 

Accountability 

Data 

Communication 

Role Models 

Resources 

Finally Chair, the Doncaster health and social care commissioning strategy is a well presented document, but it is silent on how people like me have been engaged in the process.  Is it possible especially in the context of showing compliance with the relevant section of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and Equality Act 2010 that the report authors share with me the specific BME community engagement and Equality Impact Assessment?”

Having thanked Mr Brown for his questions, the Chair invited Board members to respond to the points raised and the following comments/observations were made:-

• Dr Rupert Suckling explained that work on embedding and delivering the BME Health Needs Assessment was still ongoing, so there would be links to the JSNA going forward.

• The Chair suggested that Mr Brown’s question concerning smoking could be covered later in the meeting when the Board received the update on tobacco control.

• Board members gave an assurance that all of the organisations represented around the table had systems in place to ensure that best practice was followed in their recruitment processes.  It was also suggested that the issue of workforce equality could be referred to the NHS HR&OD Group for discussion.

• Karen Barnard confirmed that the Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust was participating in the ‘Moving Forward’ staff development programme, which was aimed at helping BME staff to progress to higher levels within the organisation.

• Anthony Fitzgerald gave a brief outline of the community engagement processes followed in developing the Doncaster Health and Social Care Commissioning Strategy, explaining that over 800 people across the Borough had been contacted over a 6-week engagement period, in conjunction with Healthwatch Doncaster, with face-to-face sessions being attended by a diverse range of people.  He stated that he would be happy to share the Equality Impact Assessment with Mr Brown, which could also be viewed via the CCG’s website.

• During discussion on apprenticeships, work experience programmes and shadowing opportunities, Glyn Butcher from the People Focused Group (who was currently shadowing the Chair, Cllr Rachael Blake) spoke of the benefits gained from his experiences of shadowing community leaders in the Borough. 

Cllr Nuala Fennelly added that she had recently joined the Board of the Doncaster Chamber of Commerce, and was hoping that the Chamber could help to encourage its member businesses to allow people to shadow within their respective organisations.