Agenda item

The Panel will receive an update from the B&NES, Swindon & Wiltshire Integrated Care Board (BSW ICB) on current issues.

Laura Ambler, Executive Director of Place for Bath and North East Somerset, BSW ICB and Lucy Baker, Director of Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence, BSW ICB addressed the Panel and highlighted the following areas from within the update.

Feedback sought on local weight management services

Across Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire, a number of different services are available to support people living with obesity.

These services were designed at a time when rates of obesity were lower and before the introduction of new weight loss treatments, which have since grown in popularity.

In recent years, increasing numbers of patients have been referred to the specialist weight management services, which are provided by the region’s hospitals, including the Royal United Hospital in Bath.

In light of the growing waiting lists, a review is needed to ensure services continue to meet the needs of patients and reflect developments in treatments.

Feedback from this survey will be used to develop a proposal on what services should look like in the future, and will be submitted as part of a wider application for funding to support local obesity initiatives.

Update on winter vaccinations

The ICB has agreed ambitions with NHS England for each of the key winter vaccinations and specific cohorts within that for flu, Covid-19 and respiratory syncytial virus.

These ambitions are set taking into account World Health Organisation guidance on herd-level immunity requirements, as well as national requirements for each individual programme.

These targets, and our local progress towards these, alongside any operational details are shared with the local authority health protection leads regularly on a weekly basis for operational purposes.

The ICB continues to encourage those people who are eligible for one or more winter vaccinations to come forward without delay.

As it stands, the three localities which make up the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire are all performing better than the national average in terms of uptake for the three main winter vaccinations.

Commissioning an all-age neuro-developmental pathway

The ICB has commissioned an all-age neuro-developmental pathway to provide a needs-based approach to support children, young people and adults with autistic and/or ADHD traits.

This new pathway forms part of the integrated community-based care procurement, with the implementation of the new pathway at the end of March 2026.

This needs-based model was co-created with people with lived and living experience from across BSW, as part of workshop events who co-developed a number of pillar principles.

As a pre-curser to this model HCRG Care Group has been working with the ICB and partners as part of a longer-term test and learn programme to transform the children and young people neuro-developmental pathway to move from a diagnostic approach to a needs-based model to improve outcomes and access.

Within the pathway, adult patients awaiting an autism assessment were transferred from AWP to HCRG as part of the ICBC mobilisation. All patients on a medication pathway have now been transferred to HCRG to ensure no gap in medication provision along with around 50 military patients, who are unable to access the NHS Right to Choose pathway.

The ICB also identified around 10 patients who needed an assessment expedited due to risk, and these individuals have also been transferred to HCRG.

The remaining patients awaiting an ADHD assessment have all been contacted and offered the NHS Right to Choose pathway in the interim, as well as support to wait well while transformation work continues to complete the previously mentioned all age pathway by the end of March 2026.

Councillor Bharat Pankhania said that more cases of seasonal flu should be expected and called for the need to strengthen the message for having an annual vaccination. He asked about the uptake of the flu vaccine among healthcare workers.

Laura Ambler acknowledged there was a relatively low uptake and said that targeted campaigns had been put in place.

Kevin Burnett referred to the neuro-developmental pathway and asked about schools involvement and whether there were implications for EHCPs.

Lucy Baker made the Panel aware of the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme and that funding for the schools involved was due to continue into 2026. She added that an aspiration remains for further schools to become involved in the programme.

She said that work regarding EHCPs continues with parents and carers on establishing a ‘new normal’.

Councillor Liz Hardman asked for more information on autism assessments.

Lucy Baker replied that the waiting list was under 2,000 and all had transferred to HCRG and been contacted by them.

Councillor Lesley Mansell asked about promotion of the pathway, its entry point and monitoring.

Lucy Baker replied that promotion is ongoing through a range of agencies and that a communications plan is in place. She explained that it was possible to self-refer onto the pathway and that a monitoring process will be built into it.

Councillor Joanna Wright asked about the prioritisation for assessments regarding the neuro-developmental pathway.

Lucy Baker replied that prioritisation is based on need, with a focus on early intervention. She added that this was a huge piece of work and one that was important to get right.

Councillor Bharat Pankhania asked about causes and prevention of neurodiversity.

Lucy Baker replied that causes are not well understood and that the focus is on early identification and support.

Councillor Pankhania asked about flu vaccine uptake among healthcare workers.

Laura Ambler acknowledged that there was a low uptake and agreed to provide further data.

Councillor Mansell referred to local weight management services and asked if this would incorporate new procedures / medication.

Laura Ambler replied that these services would now include the use of new medication to help with weight loss.

Councillor Pankhania asked about monitoring over-the-counter sales in pharmacies.

Laura Ambler agreed to seek assurance / information from pharmacy teams.

The Chair thanked Laura Ambler and Lucy Baker for their update on behalf of the Panel.