Agenda item

The Board received a report which outlined the approach being taken across Haringey to improving outcomes for children with asthma and how Haringey’s plan contributed to, and was in line with, the NCL approach. The report was introduced by Samantha Rostrum, Programme Director CYP – NCL STP, as set out in the agenda pack at pages 11 – 15. The following was noted in discussion of the report:

a.    The Board set out that more should be made of asthma as an equality issue, as it disproportionally affected children from poorer backgrounds and that the inequality aspect should be at the forefront of everyone’s mind when tackling the issue. In response, it was acknowledged that people from deprived areas were 2.5 times more likely to attend hospital and be admitted and 3 times more likely to have poor quality housing..

b.    The Board sought clarification around who was ultimately responsible for driving progress against the different strands that fed into asthma, such as housing. In response, the Board was advised that the there was a NCL Asthma Network Group which was responsible for coordinating this. The group had met the same day including  individual leads from the 5 boroughs, to develop asthma plans at the local level. The Programme Director acknowledged the need for these plans to go beyond health and into a range of issues such as housing.

c.    The Board expressed that the Haringey specific element of all of this needed to be developed a bit further, particularly in terms of how to get the clinical networks going locally. The Board also set out that the role of  air quality and pollution needed to be better communicated to residents through the use of apps such as Air Visual.

d.    The Board sought assurances about whether specific schools, who had high levels of asthma, had been engaged with and that this data was being cross referenced with other data sources for housing and air quality for example, to develop a robust analysis. In response, the Board was advised that a baseline analysis of schools has been undertaken and would form part of the asthma plan and that a robust evidence base was being developed which would include all of the different areas raised as part of this discussion.

e.    The Board sought assurances about whether workshops had been set up with Environmental Health Officers, who would be licencing private sector accommodation, particularly in light of the whole-systems approach being adopted. In response, officers advised that these conversations had taken place at a strategic level but further work was needed to engage with officers on the frontline.

f.     The Board endorsed the adoption of a whole-systems approach and commented that there needed to be a strategic forum within the Council, where corporate leads could be brought in to discuss issues such as air quality and asthma.

g.    The Board requested some work be done to pull out some of the data and evidence from the North Tottenham Area project and that this could be used to shore up some of the responses raised here around the impact of health and housing inequalities. (Action: Samantha Rostom).

h.    The Board also advocated that the benefits of being physically active should be put forward as part of this agenda and suggested promoting examples of sporting greats who had asthma to encourage people to be physically active. Officers acknowledged this and set out that the membership of the Board was reflected at the Network Board and that there was good engagement at a partnership level. Officers also set out that smoking cessation also played a key role into this agenda. (Action: Samantha Rostom).

i.      In response to a question, the Board was advised that the outcomes from the asthma plan would be monitored through the Network Board. Officers agreed to share the development of the performance dashboard with the Board. (Action: Charlotte Pomery).

RESOLVED

That Haringey Health and Wellbeing Board:

     I.  Endorsed the approach being taken across Haringey to improving outcomes for children with asthma and their families and the strategic outcomes this work is seeking to deliver; and

   II.  Supported the development and delivery of complementary North Central London and local system-wide asthma plans, focused on those common strategic outcomes.