Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence had been received from the following:

Councillor Gina Adamou (Overview and Scrutiny representative)

Abdool Alli

Tracey Baldwin

Dave Grant                            -John Forde substituted

Paul Head                              -Howard Jeffrey substituted

Rob Larkman

Marion Morris

Clare Pannicker                    -Richard Milner substituted

That Chair will consider the admission of any items of Urgent Business. (Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items of Urgent Business will be dealt with under Item 16 below).

No items of Urgent Business were raised.

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

No declarations of interest were made.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 24 September 2009 as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

That, subject to Margaret Allen’s apologies being added, Susan Otiti being listed as present and the Fiona Aldridge’s name being correctly spelt, the minutes of the meeting held on 24 September 2009 were confirmed as a correct record.

The Chair noted that one of the key discussion items, the Joint Mental Health Strategy, had been withdrawn from the agenda and would now be considered at the next meeting.

He would discuss with officers, outside meeting, the reasons for the delay to this item.

The Board considered a report that provided an update on the progress being made with respect to the Mental Health Needs Assessment (MHNA)

It was noted that the MHNA formed part of the second phase of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA). A briefing paper had been considered by the Well-Being Chair’s Executive in November, which sought approval to adopt the approach set out in the report.

It was confirmed that where the report made reference to the resources required from the Council this related to time and staff costs rather than additional financial resources. It was noted that there would need to be close collaboration in order to meet the timescales in place.

It was noted that in addition to focussing on Primary Care there would need to be a focus on preventative work in order ensure that resilience was created within services. The focus on Primary Care was welcomed and it was noted that in order to improve access to services and to reduce the stigma often attached to mental health issues it was important to assess the needs of people from a range of different backgrounds.

The Board was advised that the New Horizons Policy looked at the prevention and this would be included within the Joint Mental Health Strategy (JMHS).

In response to concerns that the proposed six week consultation period did not reflect the amount of time that had been invested in preparing the JMHS the Board was advised that there had been discussion work with local community groups.

The Chair noted that in order for both the JMHS and MHNA to be successful they would need to be presented as one piece of work. There was agreement that this should be submitted to the Boards next meeting.

RESOLVED:

1. That the report be noted.

2. That the Joint Mental Health Strategy and Mental Health Needs Assessment should be presented at the next meeting.

This report will be sent to follow.

The Chair summarised the key areas for discussion as being:

• Joint commissioning opportunities
• Whether the Strategy should be focussed on certain areas or retain a broad approach
• Opportunities for Third Sector involvement
• Health pathways and retention
• Social marketing
• 2012 Olympics

The Board considered a report that set out performance against Local Area Agreement (LAA) within its responsibility during the second quarter of 2009.

The Board was advised that performance against NI 112, which related to the reduction in of under 18 conception rates, was improving. The Teenage Pregnancy Executive Board had recently reviewed the data on this and there were signs that the trend was being reversed.

It was noted that an officer from NHS Haringey was currently being trained on the Council’s performance management system so that data could be entered directly. It was anticipated that this would address the problems experienced in gathering information for performance reports. With respect to smoking cessation the Board was advised that improvement had been seen and the lack of data submitted around this was likely to be a timing issue.

The Chair welcomed improved working between the Council and NHS Haringey with respect to the performance monitoring. He noted that in addition to scrutinising the action being taken to address targets showing as ‘red’ the Board should also carefully monitor the ‘green’’ targets to identify at an early stage where there may any issues.

It was noted that there was performance data missing with respect to Mental Health and the Chairman of BEH MHT agreed to take this issue back and identify the appropriate office to provide this information for the next report.

The Board was advised that the Council’s Adult Services had recently been rated as ‘performing well, with good prospects for improvement’ by the Care Quality Commission. The Chair congratulated the Council on this on behalf of the Board.

RESOLVED:

1. That the report be noted.

2. That officers from NHS Haringey and the Council should liaise to ensure that the next performance report contained the most recent data.

A verbal update will be provided.

Agenda Items 8 and 9 were taken together.

The Board received a verbal update on the strategic approach to commissioning being developed at present and considered the report submitted with respect to the Area Based Grant (ABG) end of year review.

The Board was advised that as part of this the Community Strategy, Local Area Agreement targets, value for money and quality of provision were all being considered with a view to improving services.

It was noted that there had been discussions with the Council’s Chief Financial Officer ahead of the anticipated budget reductions that were likely to come into affect from 2010/11 onwards. In order to ensure that services were not hit twice if cuts were made a list had been complied of all of the statutory and non statutory services funded by the ABG. The Chief Financial Officer had been asked to take this into account if a review of funding was undertaken.

At present a review was being undertaken to ensure that the best use of resources was arrived at regardless of the configuration of funding.

It had already been announced that the Supporting People budget would be reduced by £1M in the next financial year. In order to address this deficit a robust review of ninety schemes, which supported a total of nineteen different groups of vulnerable adults, was being undertaken.

The Board was advised that once the Chief Financial Officer had once technical discussions had concluded the Chief Executive’s Management Board, the NHS Board and the HSP Performance Management Group would be briefed.

The Board discussed the verbal update with respect to strategic commissioning and the ABG end of year review.

It was noted that many of the services listed related to non statutory Mental Health services and it was questioned whether the list had been compiled in this way because non statutory services were more likely to be cut. The Board was advised the intention had been to provide the Chief Financial Officer with an overview of the services being provided and that this did not automatically mean that non statutory services were more vulnerable.

The Chair recognised that this information was being used for internal purposes at present but noted that it would be useful to obtain the views of senior officers within NHS Haringey to inform the process. He requested that the Assistant Director, Safeguarding and Adults and the Interim Director of Public liaise with regard to this.

It was clarified that this work was being undertaken as a precautionary measure as it was likely that there would cuts to funding over the next three years. The Council’s Chief Financial Officer would not be taking an individual decision to cut any budgets. The Chair noted that contingency planning was essential and noted that whilst nothing could be agreed at present it was important that all organisations were kept informed of the process being undertaken to avoid confusion and to allow them to plan how they might respond to cuts.

In response to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 174.

The Chair noted that it had been intended that the NSTHI would attend the HSP meeting on 21 January; however, they had subsequently advised that this was not possible. The team would now be attending a seminar for the NHS Board and the Chair noted that he would be happy to extend an invitation to HSP members.

It was noted that the visit had involved organisations from across the Partnership and that there were a number of areas within the list of recommendations that pertained to partnership working. It was contended that engagement with Partners, particularly Community and Voluntary organisations, was essential in terms of drafting the Action Plan if it were to be effective. The Chief Executive of HAVCO noted that he would be happy to support the production of the Action Plan.   

In response to a query the Board was advised that there had been a specific workshop on Mental Health as part of the visit. The Chair noted that the visit had been intended to identify specific areas where an additional focus would be useful rather than dealing with the totality of Health Inequalities.

There was a general consensus that it would be useful if a workshop was session was organised for non executive NHS Board members and Councillors to discuss how the recommendations with respect to Partnership working would be implemented. It was also suggested that the Action Plan was discussed at the six weekly joint Council/NHS Haringey meetings.

The Board was advised that the Whole Systems Capacity planning work had been replaced by Winter Resilience planning forum and the dates of these meetings could be obtained from the Assistant Director ??

It was recognised that this was a large piece of work that would require real ownership if it were to be successful and it was suggested that Health Champions should be established to help in creating this. It was suggested that ownership and accountability could also be fostered by creating responsibilities and accountability through the use of job descriptions, person specifications, performance appraisals and the business planning process. 

It was requested that the Feasibility Study undertaken was circulated to members of the Board for information.  

The Board discussed the format of the Action Plan and there was agreement that it should be streamlined to set out the key actions and work being undertaken to directly address the recommendations from the NSTHI. 

The Chair noted that it was particularly important that the actions clearly followed on from the recommendations. Any actions that reiterated what was already happening should be removed. 

RESOLVED:

1. That the Action Plan should be redrafted to the reflect comments made by the Board as set out above.

2. That a workshop session should be arranged for non executive NHS Haringey Board members and Councillors to identify how recommendations made with respect to the Partnership would be implemented.

The Board considered a report that provided an update on the Safeguarding Adults Implementation Plan.

It was noted that a new independent Chair had been appointed to the Safeguarding Adults Board on 2 November and that he would Chair his first meeting in January. Agreement had also been obtained from the Police that officers would be appointed to the Adult Safeguarding Team.

On the 17 November the Council’s Cabinet had formally agreed to establishment of a Member Panel for Safeguarding Adults that would consist of three Labour and two Liberal Democrat Councillors. This would act as an advisory body the Cabinet.

The Board’s key role in terms of Safeguarding was recognised and there was agreement that Adult Safeguarding should be added as a standing agenda item. The Chair noted that this should be an ‘issues’ rather than information report.

It was noted that there was often a lack of information sharing between agencies and that there were often services provided by other agencies that staff were not aware of. In order to provide the best service possible joined up services were required and there was agreement that key contact numbers for services across the Partnership should be circulated to staff at GP surgeries and other primary care providers.

The Board considered a report that sought formal approval of the Tobacco Strategy and Action Plan.

Councillor Bevan, Cabinet Member for Housing, noted that during the NSTHI visit he had made a commitment that the Housing Service would help with work with respect to smoking cessation, by providing information on the number of males who smoked in the Borough in social housing. At present a pilot was being undertaken in the Tottenham area to see how affect this means of targeting people was in reducing smoking. If this was successful options for rolling out the initiative across the Borough would be considered.

RESOLVED:

1. That the Tobacco Control Strategy and Action Plan be approved.

2. That six monthly monitoring reports would be received from the Tobacco Control Alliance.

The Board received a report that provided an overview of the Communities for Health grant funding for 2009/10.

In response to a query from the Chair the Board was advised that NHS Haringey had been unsuccessful in obtaining funding due to a conflict of interest. There was agreement that a representative from NHS Haringey should be involved in the programme.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

The Board received a report that provided an overview of how the arrangements for Voluntary and Community representation across the Partnership operated.

It was noted that in 2007 the HSP agreed a new model for Voluntary and Community Sector engagement and with the Partnership. The model introduced a new system whereby representative from the sector were elected onto the HSP and its Theme Boards via a new forum called the Community Link Forum (CLF).

Under the agreement with the CLF and HAVCO one place was given to HAVCO on the HSP and each Thematic Board and the CLF was given six places on the HSP and three places on each Thematic Board.

The Chair noted that the Well-Being Strategic Partnership Board had co-opted a member of the Haringey Federation of Residents Associations and that this breached the agreement made with HAVCO and the CLF for the provision of Voluntary and Community sector representatives.

Therefore it was proposed that this place should be deleted as of the new Municipal Year in May 2010.

RESOLVED:

That as of the new Municipal Year in May 2010 the membership of the Board should be revised to reflect the agreement with HAVCO and the CLF for Voluntary and Community Sector representation.

To discuss any new items of Urgent Business admitted under Item 2 above.

No new items of Urgent Business were raised.

To raise any items of AOB.

No items of AOB were raised.

The next meeting is scheduled for 7pm, on 25 February 2010, at the Civic Centre.  

Please note that the Council’s Calendar of meetings for the new Municipal Year, which runs from May 2010 – April 2011, is currently being complied.

As soon as the draft dates are available members of the Board will be advised.

It was noted that the next meeting would be held on 25 February at 7pm at the Civic Centre.