Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from:

Mike Bowden – B&NES Council

Mark Coates – Knightstone Housing

Tracey Cox – Clinical Commissioning Group

Steve Imrie – Avon Fire and Rescue Service

Steve Kendall – Avon and Somerset Police

Bernie Morley – University of Bath

James Scott – RUH NHS Trust – substitute Jocelyn Foster

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting.

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officer or a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

Councillor Paul May declared a non-pecuniary interest as a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Sirona. 

There were no public questions or comments.

To confirm the minutes of the above meeting as a correct record.

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Diana Hall Hall raised an issue regarding the May payroll run for Virgin Care staff.  Jayne Carroll stated that there had been some problems relating to the payment of bank staff but that these had now been resolved.

Cllr Tim Ball also expressed concern that some Virgin Care staff had not received payment and had no access to their payslips.  Jayne Carroll explained that an electronic system was now in operation for payslips and confirmed that, as far as she was aware, all staff had now been paid.

The Board’s existing Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy includes a specific aim to reduce health inequalities in Bath and North East Somerset.  The Board is asked to consider the attached update report and to:

•  note the existing work on health inequalities

•  consider some of the current opportunities for strengthening this work and also potential barriers

•  consider its future role in relation to this issue.

The Board considered a report which highlighted some of the good practice occurring for each of the priorities identified at the health inequalities inquiry day held in May 2016.

It was noted that the Your Care Your Way commissioning of community services and the emergence of Sustainability and Transformation Plans had absorbed a great deal of time and attention.  This had resulted in a lack of space and resource to carry out other cross-cutting work.

Some work was currently being carried out to address health inequalities such as:

·  The creation of a virtual employment hub.

·  Provision of more joined up services.

·  Programmes to work with “hard to reach” groups e.g. the local programme in the Foxhill/Mulberry Park area of Bath. 

·  Work to encourage healthy lifestyles e.g. increasing physical activity and reducing smoking and alcohol consumption.

·  CCGs and GPs were also doing work within practices located in deprived areas e.g. safeguarding.

·  The public health team had also met with Healthwatch to discuss priorities.

The following issues were then discussed:

·  Cllr Vic Pritchard informed that Board that he had recently attended a seminar regarding mental health where Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) were discussed.  He welcomed the inclusion of the use of routine enquiry around ACES and felt that this should be promoted.  The trauma informed care approach was gaining interest in drug-treatment services and the police force.

·  Cllr Paul May stressed the need to clarify outcomes and deadlines for the future actions to enable the Board to monitor this work more effectively.

·  Sarah Shatwell welcomed the explanation regarding the context of this work and highlighted the impact of work pressures on the whole of the health and social care community.  She suggested that work on Adverse Childhood Experiences could join up with the Making Every Contact Count project.  It was important to work together with voluntary sector organisations to join up with work already underway such as the Better Opportunities Programme.

·  Ashley Ayre advised Board members to read the recently published Ofsted inspection report which highlighted the strength of the early help and childcare service in B&NES.

·  Diana Hall Hall pointed out that the Bath Area Playgroup deserved credit for the work it carries out to address inequalities.

·  It was noted that service user information was well developed but that further work needed to be undertaken regarding workforce data.

·  It was important to ensure that families received the help they needed at the correct time.  Early intervention was vital, along with a needs based response.

·  The STP and inequalities actions were not mutually exclusive and work could be carried out to identify where most value could be added for B&NES residents.

·  Laurel Penrose stated that further education could assist with employability and that focus should be wider than purely compulsory education.

RESOLVED:

(1)  To note the existing work on health inequalities.

(2)  To ask the Sustainability and Transformation Partnership Board to discuss the issue of health inequalities and to consider ways in which it can assist with this work.

(3)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Making Every Contact Count (MECC) is about altering how we interact with people through having healthy conversations and learning how to spot opportunities to talk to people about their wellbeing.  The attached report seeks the approval and commitment from the Board to implementing MECC locally.

The Board considered a report and received a presentation regarding Making Every Contact Count (MECC).  This involved altering how staff interact with people through having healthy conversations and learning how to spot opportunities to talk to people about their wellbeing.

The presentation covered the following issues:

·  Overview of MECC

·  The local approach

·  How implementation will be supported.  MECC is a national initiative and is intended to be brief. It should be enabling and empowering and not forcing or telling.

·  The aim is to provide a structure to help staff to undertake healthy conversations with their patients and support them in making healthy lifestyle choices.

·  Training will be provided using a cascade model.

·  Progress made – a co-ordinator has been appointed, a small grant application process has been set up, 12 trainers are in place and 88 staff have been trained.

The Board members were very supportive of this initiative and were happy to champion it.  It was acknowledged that although older people are currently considered to be a higher priority, the programme will also aim to engage young people using a phased approach.

Elaine Wainwright stated that Bath Spa University would be keen to be involved with this project and noted that the training provided would be skills based rather than topic based.

Jayne Caroll stated that Virgin Care would welcome the opportunity to look at this from the perspective of the role of the Health Visitor.

Hayley Richards stated that a large proportion of the AWP workforce were practitioners.  There was a small concern that people do not find it easy to talk about mental health issues.  It was acknowledged that the evaluation of the project would not be straightforward but that the approach should become a natural part of a person’s role.

A copy of the presentation slides is attached as Appendix 1 to these minutes.

RESOLVED:

(1)  To note the approach for implementing Making Every Contact Count (MECC).

(2)  To agree the suggested key principles for local implementation:

·  A focus on MECC Level 1: very brief intervention/healthy conversations.

·  Delivering MECC Plus to include the wider determinants.

·  A phased approach with identified target audiences.

·  A model of cascading the training/learning.

(3)  To provide high level support and commitment to MECC.

To receive a presentation regarding the Mental Health and Wellbeing Charter.  Members are invited to discuss the Charter and how it could potentially be adopted by the Health and Wellbeing Board. 

The Board received a presentation from Caroline Mellors, Charter Lead, St Mungos Bridge to Wellbeing, regarding the Mental Health and Wellbeing Charter.  The contact details for Caroline Mellors are 07525 594606 or email Caroline.Mellors@mungos.org.  A copy of the slides is attached as Appendix 2 to these minutes.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Charter provides a clear set of principles to guide people who require mental health support.  Alongside the “in practice” document it promotes a shared approach between those using services, their families, friends, groups and professionals to support each person’s unique mental health needs.

The presentation covered the following issues:

·  Background and reasons for the Charter.

·  Details of the collaborative work undertaken to create the Charter.

·  How the Charter was created.

·  The contents of the Charter.

·  Details of the work being undertaken to embed the Charter and to provide training.

·  The Charter was launched in May 2016 at an event opened by the Mayor.

·  Future plans for the Charter.

The following issues were discussed:

·  The Board members fully supported the Charter and thanked those involved for all the work they had undertaken to produce it.

·  It was noted that the Charter could be helpful for an area wider than the B&NES boundaries and that it could be used across the whole STP area.

·  There were 10 principles set out in the document and it was noted that when providing training, organisations were invited to look at the areas they particularly wished to address and to prioritise these.

·  It was suggested that the Charter would be very useful to schools and could be included in the headteachers’ briefing pack.

·  The Board felt that the way in which the Charter was derived was particularly valuable.

RESOLVED:

(1)  To endorse the Mental Health and Wellbeing Charter.

(2)  To recommend that Board members take the Charter back to their respective organisations and adopt the principles set out within it.

To note that the next meeting will take place on Wednesday 6 September at 10.30am.

It was noted that the next meeting would take place on Wednesday 6 September 2017.