Agenda and draft minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The Democratic Services Officer will draw attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

The Democratic Services Officer drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

Apologies had been received from:

Sophie Broadfield – Bath and North East Somerset Council

Paul Harris - Curo

Sara Gallagher - Bath Spa University

Will Godfrey - Bath and North East Somerset Council

Mary Kearney-Knowles - Bath and North East Somerset Council

Val Scrase - HCRG Care Group

Martin Sim - Bath College

Cara Charles Barks - Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust

Substitutions:

Jon Nash for Scott Hill - Avon and Somerset Police

Heather Crolley for Val Scrase - HCRG Care Group

Rich Harris for Martin Sim - Bath College

Joss Foster for Cara Charles Barks - Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust

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 4.4 Appendix 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.

Cllr Paul May reported that he was a non-executive Director of Sirona Health and Care which operated in Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset and if a conflict of interest arose at any future meeting, he would declare and withdraw from discussions.

Please see agenda note 4 overleaf.

There were no items from the public.

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

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of 2 May 2024 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The Chair gave the following update:

1.  The Reporting Leads for the 4 priority themes of the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy were continuing their work to monitor and log progress in relation to the actions set out in the implementation plan.

2.  Following David Tretheway’s retirement, Sophie Broadfield will take over as the sponsor for Theme Two – “Improve skills, good work and employment.”

3.  The next round of escalation reporting would be at the September meeting.

4.  The programme of themed development sessions was providing an opportunity for the Board to have a deeper insight in to some of the opportunities and challenges in implementing the strategy.

40 minutes

1.  Presentation by Alice Herve, Bath Welcomes Refugees and Sue Poole of Healthwatch on the report on experiences of refugees in accessing and using health and social care services in B&NES.

A copy of the full report by Dr Aanchal Ranacan be found at:

https://healthwatchbathnes.co.uk/report/2023-11-02/my-voice-matters-experiences-refugees-accessing-and-using-health-and-social-care

2.  Update from Laura Knight, Employment and Accessibility Officer, Bath and North East Somerset on initiatives to support refugees.

Sue Poole (Healthwatch) and Alice Herve (Bath Welcomes Refugees) gave a presentation on a report undertaken by a University of Bath student on the experiences of refugees in accessing and using health and social care services in Bath and North East Somerset and Swindon.  A copy of the presentation had been circulated with the agenda and the key findings and recommendations are summarised below:

1.  Overall the process of registering with the GP worked well in both areas.

2.  There was a lack of understanding with refugees of how the NHS worked leading to confusion and frustration.

3.  There was a perception that refugees were placed at the back of the waiting list.

4.  Translation services could be improved, this included support to book appointments with GPs.

5.  Dental Access needed to be improved.

6.  Specialist mental health support was needed for refugees.

7.  The impact of housing instability on physical and mental health needed to be recognised.

8.  There was a systemic issue that when refugees had to change area, they go back the start with their NHS support

Laura Knight, Employment and Accessibility Officer at Bath and North East Somerset Council was invited to update the Board about an initiative to appoint a Ukrainian Youth Ambassador to engage and advocate on behalf of other young Ukrainian refugees especially in relation to wellbeing, education, training and pathways to employment.  She reported that the B&NES Resettlement Team also funded an officer to advise and guide refugees.  She advised that there had been 1,000 refugees in B&NES over the last 8 years under a variety of different resettlement schemes.

Board Members raised the following comments.

1.  There needed to be closer working with the Home Office in relation to supporting refugees and asylum seekers.  A number of partners had been supporting a group of asylum seekers who were temporarily housed in a hotel in Bath, but the group had been moved on without the knowledge of the local authority/other partners who had been working with the families. 

2.  Some refugees chose not to stay in the area even though they were offered a good package of support, as they sought relocation closer to family members in different parts of the country.  This was not necessarily a bad outcome as it was important for refugees not to feel isolated.

3.  There was a relatively small group of unaccompanied asylum seekers in the area, but they needed a high level of support due to the trauma they had experienced.

4.  The report highlighted the powerlessness of refugees and lack of control they had over their lives.

5.  The University of Bath was a university of sanctuary and would welcome working with the Ukrainian Youth Ambassador.  The university offered a scholarship for a Ukrainian student, but there not been any applicants.

It was RESOLVED that the Board, through the ICB, would raise the issue of effective communication with the Home Office in relation to supporting asylum seekers and refugees. 

20 minutes

Georgina Ruddle/Jane Rowland, Associate Directors, Mental Health, BSW ICB to give an overview of the strategy.

Georgina Ruddle/Jane Rowland, Associate Directors, Mental Health, Bath & North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board (BSW ICB) gave a presentation on the BSW ICB All Age Mental Health Strategy.

The presentation gave an overview of the strategy as follows:

1.  Strategy production - context & methodology

2.  Strategic vision & aims

3.  Our Population & Current Delivery Status

4.  The BSW Mental Health Strategic Conceptual Model

5.  Strategic Commitments

6.  Strategy finalisation

The Board raised the following comments:

1.  It was important for the BSW ICB All Age Mental Health Strategy to be aligned with other strategies e.g., Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

2.  Assurance was needed on how capacity could be managed to meet demand.

3.  Any research needed to feed into the Council’s Strategic Evidence Base.

4.  The Board would like to receive further updates on the implementation of the strategy and factors that were making a difference.

5.  There needed to be alignment with the transformational work being carried out by the third sector. 

6.  There was a need to identify how early interventions linked in with the strategy.

In response to a question about the strategy, it was confirmed that there was a transition model supported by AWP/Oxford Health and the Third Sector.  There was also an opportunity for co-production with children and young people on transition to encourage their voice in the process.

The Board RESOLVED to note the presentation.

25 minutes

The Board is asked to approve the framework.

Annette Luker and Hannah Thornton

Dr Annette Luker (Consultant in Public Health), Hannah Thornton (Public Health Registrar), Kate Richards (Public Health Registrar) and Chris Chatten (Project Manager, Leisure Services and Physical Activity) gave a presentation on the Be Well B&NES: Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) Whole Systems Health Improvement Framework 2024–2034 which had been circulated in advance of the meeting.

It was noted that Board members had previously had an opportunity to comment on the framework.

The Board RESOLVED to approve the Be Well B&NES: Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) Whole Systems Health Improvement Framework 2024–2034.

10 minutes

Ratification of the Better Care Fund Planning return for 2024/2025 and oversight of the process for 2025-2027 Narrative planning.  .

Laura Ambler/Suzanne Westhead

Laura Ambler/Suzanne Westhead introduced the report and drew attention to the following:

1.  BSW ICB Community contract arrangements – pooled funding would be reduced as this element of voluntary contributions would be directly through the community contract and not through the Better Care Fund.

2.  There may be a change to future funding arrangements due to the new Government. 

3.  Currently, BCF funding was restricted to adult social care.

4.  The BCF had make a difference, for example the work with the RUH in relation to hospital discharges.

5.  The Board was being asked to ratify the mid-point return.

The Board RESOLVED to ratify the 24/25 Better Care Fund Planning addendum.

10 minutes

Suzanne Westhead, Director of Adult Services to give a verbal update on the transfer of adult social cares services and the upcoming inspection.

Suzanne Westhead drew attention to the update on Adult Social Care (ASC) which had been circulated in advance in the meeting, in particular the ASC Transfer Evaluation and upcoming Care Quality Commission (CQC) Inspection:

1.  CQC was planning to inspect Bath & North East Somerset Adult Services during the week beginningSeptember 9.

2.  This would be the first inspection in 14 years.

3.  150 Councils were being inspected and B&NES was one of the early inspections.

4.  The outcome report would be published by the end of October.

The Chair thanked all staff involved, including HCRG, for ensuring the smooth transition and Adult Social Care services. 

The Board RESOLVED to note the update.