Agenda and minutes

To welcome those present to the meeting and receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from the following:

Abdool Alli

Tracey Baldwin                      -Penny Thompson substituted

Councillor Gideon Bull

Vanessa Bogle

Michael Fox

David Grant

Mary Pilgrim

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 10 June 2008 as a correct record of the meeting.

It was noted that there would be further discussion outside the meeting regarding the Membership of the Board and the process for cooption.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 10 June 2008 be confirmed as a correct record.

Members of the Board must declare any personal and/or prejudicial interests with respect to agenda items and must not take part in any decision with respect to these items.

No declarations of interest were raised.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of Urgent Business. (Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items will be dealt with under agenda Item 15 below).

No items of urgent business were raised.

A presentation will also be provided.

The Board received a report presenting the new Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy 2008-11.

It was noted that this built upon the original three year Strategy published in 2005 and incorporated the findings of a recent review of local alcohol related problems and also took into account new statutory guidelines and duties.

The key aims of the Strategy were to tackle health and social harm caused by alcohol and address anti social behaviour.

The objectives of the Strategy fell within the responsibility of three of the HSP Theme Boards:

• Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership Board
• Safer Communities Executive Board
• Well-Being Strategic Partnership Board

It was noted that an Alcohol Strategy Group would have an oversight of the Implementation Plan and would review its effectiveness. The Plan would also  be reviewed by the group on an annual basis.

The Council’s Cabinet was due to consider the Strategy on 18 November.

It was noted that St Mungo’s had produced a detailed response to the Strategy and that this had been passed onto the appropriate officer for consideration.

There was agreement that the it should be clearly reflected in the document that it was an HSP strategy.

It was noted that objectives contained within the strategy may need to be revised in the light of work currently being carried out by ? on hospitals.

It was agreed that individuals responsible for actions should be named in the Action Plan wherever possible.

In response to concerns the Board was advised that the strategy had been market tested to ensure that it addressed the needs of people it was aimed at reaching.  

RESOLVED:

1. That the Strategy and Action Plan be approved and the proposed monitoring and evaluation framework for delivery be supported by the Board.

2. That the proposed title ‘Dying for a Drink’ be endorsed.  

3. To note that the Strategy was being presented to the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 6 October and to the Council’s Cabinet on 18 November.  

The Board received a report presenting the Haringey Obesity Strategy and a brief presentation was made.

It was noted that the Strategy had been developed to offer practical guidance for the prevention, management and treatment of obesity in children and adults in the Borough. This was supported by the Adult Obesity Pathway and was linked to both national and local strategies and targets, including the Sport and Physical Activity Strategy and Infant Mortality Strategy.

In response to a query as to how access to care pathways could be improved the Board was advised that as obesity was a trigger point for accessing many different care pathways and the strategy considered this issue.

There was discussion around the provision of organised walking groups in the Borough and levels of participation and there was agreement that there should be further discussion on this issues outside the meeting.

It was suggested that large employers included within the partnership should take a proactive approach in encouraging staff to become more active as part of their corporate social responsibility. It was noted that there was a role for 3^rd Sector colleagues to play in achieving this.

Concern was raised that there may a negative impact on young people if they felt stigmatised and there was agreement that this point required consideration in order to prevent eating disorders developing as a reaction to being labelled as obese.

The Board was advised that it was envisaged that a more joined up approach would be achieved following a Needs Assessment that was about to be carried out by the PCT.

The Chair noted that this was the last meeting that Vicky Hobart would be attending and thanked her, on behalf of the Board, for her hard work and wished her well in the future.

RESOLVED:

1. That the content of the Strategy and its links to a number of outcomes in the Well-Being Framework be noted.

2. To note that the work on the commissioning of weight management services for children would be raised with the Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership Board.

The Board received a report presenting the new Sport and physical Participation Improvement Plan. A presentation was also made.

The Board was reminded that one of the six outcomes listed in the Community Strategy was to help people become healthier and improve quality of life for people living in the Borough. Increasing the number of people participating in sport and physical activity was seen as a key tool in achieving this.

In addition to supporting the aims of the Community Strategy there were four National Indicators (NI’s) included within the Local Area Agreement (LAA) that increased participation in sport would contribute towards achieving.

In response to a query as to how the strategy had been tested with its target group the Board was advised that there were mechanisms in place to facilitate this and that and the results of this would be reflected in the strategy.

It was noted that there strong links between the Community and Voluntary Sector and leisure services in the Borough. The Board was advised that the CSPAN group, Chaired by the Director of Public Health, would play a key role in developing these links further.  

It was noted that the map profiling deprivation and the links to participation in physical activity clearly demonstrated the correlation between this and a lack of physical activity. It was suggested that action should be taken to increase the sense of ownership of areas such as parks and sports facilities in order to encourage people in more deprived areas to become more active.

It was suggested that the Borough Profile could be used to provide a more detailed analysis of the link between deprivation and lack of physical activity.

There was agreement that clarity was required around new LAA targets and Stretch Targets. The current aim of increasing participation to three times per week was unrealistic in areas where significant numbers of people did not take any physical activity at all.

It was agreed that the document should be brought back to the Board for comment in March for further consideration.

RESOLVED:

1. That the work undertaken to date, initiatives planned and proposals currently under development be noted.

2. That the Strategy should be brought back to the Board in March 2009 for further consideration.

3. That the HARIACTIVE approach be endorsed.

4. That the role of the Haringey Community Sports and Physical Activity (CSPAN), as the principal group leading on the delivery of LAA targets be noted. 

A presentation will also be provided.

The Board received a presentation on the issues shaping the Sexual Health Strategy.

The Board was advised that the programme of immunising girls aged thirteen in schools had commenced. There had been a small number of schools that had opted out of the programme and where this was the case the vaccination was available at local GP’s surgeries. 

In response to a query as to the number of GP surgeries that had singed up to offer additional sexual health services the Board was advised that a number of Practices were now delivering this service. However, a recent audit had shown that the service provided varied and ways of working with surgeries to improve services were being considered.

The Board was advised that schools were seen as a playing a key role in improving awareness amongst young people of the risk of sexually transmitted diseases. Work was currently being carried out schools to agree a more systematic approach to this.

In response to concerns that a number of head teachers had not agreed to immunisations being given at schools, it was noted that an Immunisation Coordinator had been appointed and that they would play a key role in liaising with schools around this issue. The Board was also advised that the Director of Children’s Services had agreed to take this up with the head teachers of schools that had not participated.

There was agreement that the Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership Board should also be asked to consider what measures it could take to encourage schools to participate.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

The Board considered a report presenting the Tackling Health Inequalities  Action Plan.

The Action Plan had been devised in response to an audit report published in June 2008, which examined how the Council and Primary Care Trust (PCT) reduced health inequalities in the Borough.

RESOLVED:

That the recommendations contained within the Health Inequalities Audit and the measures set out in the Action Plan to address these be noted.  

A verbal update will be provided.

The Board received a verbal update in relation to the new Risk Management Framework adopted by the HSP on 3 July 2008.

It was noted that as part of the Risk Management strategy the HSP and each of the Thematic Boards were required to complete Risk Registers. These should focus primarily on the risks attached to achieving targets included within in the LAA.

The Board was advised that under the Risk Management Framework the Risk Registers had to be completed by December. Therefore these would be presented to the Board for approval at its next meeting.

If any assistance was required in drafting these the Council’s Internal Audit team should be contacted.

RESOLVED:

That the verbal update be noted.

Please note that this report will be sent to follow.

The Board received a report that provided an overview of the work of the Safeguarding Adults Board (SAB) during 2007/08.

It was noted that the SAB had been restructured in order to create a greater sense of ownership of the policy and procedures amongst partner agencies. The Annual Report (included as an appendix) identified objectives for 2008/09 and addressed requirements included within national guidance, directives and policy.

There was agreement that it would be useful if the future Annual Reports made reference to the issues being raised by Service Users and that an overview of the measures being taken to address these was also included.

RESOLVED:

That the Safeguarding Adults Annual Report and Action Plan be noted.  

A presentation will also be provided.

The Board received a report that provided an overview of the Primary Care Trust’s Investment Plan for 2008/09.

Concern was raised that the Community and Voluntary Sector that not received information requested from the PCT in relation to the Rehabilitation Strategy referred to in the report. There was agreement that this issue should be discussed further outside the meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

A verbal update will be provided.

The Board received a verbal update on the Area Based Grant (ABG).

It was noted that the ABG Review had been completed in September. Of the forty-nine projects receiving funding within the Boards responsibility thirty-seven had been rated as Green, eight as Amber and four as Red.

In order to ensure that the process was transparent and fair the an evaluation process had been undertaken and representatives from the Third Sector had taken part in this. The evaluation had found that the proper criteria had been applied in a consistent way.

The Board was advised the HSP Performance Management Group (PMG) would consider the final report on 6 October.

RESOLVED:

That the verbal update provided be noted.

A verbal update will also be provided.

The Board received a report setting out performance during the first quarter (April to July 2008).

It was noted that, at present, there were several areas where data could not be collected and therefore it had not been possible to measure performance against these targets.  There was agreement that the Council and PCT should work together to develop proxy indicators where appropriate.

RESOLVED:

1. That the report be noted.

2. That proxy indicators should be developed where information could not be collected at present.

3. That future reports should include a covering report providing a narrative in relation to areas of under performance and the actions being taken to address these.

To consider any new items of Urgent Business admitted under Item 4.

No new items of urgent business were raised.

Please note the following dates that have been set for 2008/09:

• 8 December 2008
• 2 March 2009

The Board was asked to note the following future dates of meetings:

• 8 December 2008
• 2 March 2009