To agree the Minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 3 November 2021, as a correct record

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 3 November 2022 be approved and signed as a correct record.

Any interests not already registered.

There were none.

The action was noted.

The Chief Officer - People and Places gave an update on the NHS Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG), and Integrated Care System (ICS).

The Kent and Medway CCG was created on 1 April 2020. Beyond its statutory responsibilities the CCG had a central role in supporting and resourcing development of the Kent and Medway ICS. ICSs were being established as part of national proposals to develop integrated care systems. All proposals were subject to the Health and Care Act, which contains a series of measures to formally establish Integrated Care Systems (ICSs). The Act puts ICSs on a statutory footing, empowering them to better join up health and care, improve population health and reduce health inequalities.

The four core purposes of an ICS were to:

·           Improve outcomes (population health and care)

·           Tackle inequalities in outcomes and access

·           Enhance productivity and value for money

·           Support broader social economic development

Collaborating as ICSs would help health and care organisations tackle complex challenges, including:

·           Improving the health of children and young people

·           Supporting people to stay well and independent

·           Acting sooner to help those with preventable conditions

·           Support for those with long-term conditions or mental health issues

·           Care for those with multiple needs as populations age

·           Get the best from collective resources so people get care as quickly as possible.

An Integrated Care Partnership Sub-Committee would be established which would be responsible for the development of strategies and planning for development and wellbeing. It was hoped that Local Authority’s would become engaged as the programme developed. 

It was likely that a variety of sub-Committees were to be established to broaden the scope and information for the ICSs.

          Resolved: That the Board note the report.

As a representative for West Kent Mind could not attend, the Chairman, with the Boards agreement deferred the item to a future meeting of the Committee.

          Resolved: That the report be deferred to a future meeting.

Cllr Perry Cole had attended Kent County Council’s Health, Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) and gave an update to the Board on what was discussed. The impact of Covid-19 featured regularly at the HOSC meetings. The most recent meeting included an updated Children and Young Persons Mental Health briefing. There had been a sizeable increase in the demand for mental health services amongst young people which was likely exacerbated by the pandemic.

GPs surgeries were also discussed at the meeting and standardised opening times as well as telephone communications systems were being looked into by the CCG in order to tackle the problems encountered by residents with their own GP surgeries.

Cllr Perry Cole also explained that there were additional stresses and strains in the South East, especially when it came to attracting and retaining doctors and staff. This was due to the relatively high cost of living in the South East when compared with other parts of the Country and the pull of higher paying jobs in London. Newly qualified doctors were also often quite keen to develop their skill set by moving into specialist roles far earlier in their career rather than remaining in general practice - there were a number of reasons why this could be and the CCG were looking at how the retention of GPs could be enhanced.

Pathology was also discussed at the HOSC. Around 70% of all diagnoses made in the NHS involved pathology. National demand for pathology was estimated to be around 1.2 billion tests per year with approximately 44% originating from primary care. Increases were being observed by individual laboratories and across Kent and Medway approximately thirty-nine million tests were undertaken annually with continued growth.

The Chairman thanked Cllr Perry Cole for his update and the Board expressed a desire for Cllr Cole to continue with his updates at future meetings.

The Chairman and the Health and Communities Manager updated the Board on the Run, Push, Walk Against Dementia event which was supported by funding from KCC’s Helping Hand fund. The Board expressed thanks to the Officers involved in organising the event including from the Communications, Print Room, Health and Facilities Management Teams. The event saw 300 participants get active to raise funds for dementia. Participants included keen runners and family groups that had been affected by dementia.

The Work Plan was noted with the following additions:

17 January 2023

·         Health And Wellbeing Draft Action Plan 2023-24

·         Digital Inclusion – Update From Compaid

·         Update On Mental Health from West Kent Mind

·         Update On Data For Health Inequality In The District

Summer 2023

·        Defibrillators Update

·        Update On Data For Dentist NHS Refusals

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